Pliny Natural History Volume III

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MAI FEB 1 6 1993

. MAI MAR 021993

THE LOEB CLASSICAL -LIBRARY

FOUNDED BY JAMBS LOKB, IX.D.

EDITED BY
fT. E. PAGE, C.H., LITT.B.

E. CAPPS, PH.D., LL.D. W. H. D. BOUSE, LITT.D.
L. A. POST, H.A. E. H. WARMINGTON, M.A.

PLINY

NATURAL HISTORY

III

LIBRI YIII-XI

PLINY

NATURAL HISTORY

WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
IN TEN VOLUMES

VOLUME lit
LIBRI VIII-XI

BY

IL RACKHAM, M.A.

MffitJ.OW OF1 CHIUSr'S COLLKGK, CAMBIUDaK

LONDON

WILLIAM HK1NKMANN LTD

rAMBUlDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

MOMXL

Printnl in Grtoi Bnt&in

PREFACE

TRANSLATIONS are usually designed either to present
the thought of a foreign writer in the English most
appropriate to it, without regard to the peculiarities
of his style (so far as style and thought can be dis-
tinguished), or, on the contrary, to convey to the
English reader, as far as is possible, the style as well
as the thought of the foreign original.

It would seem, however, that neither of these
objects should be the primary aim of a translator
constructing a version that is to be printed facing the
original text. In these circumstances the purpose
of the version is to assist the reader of the original
to understand its meaning. This modest intention
must guide the choice of a rendering for each phrase
or sentence, and considerations of English style are
of necessity secondary.

A few biographical notes on persons mentioned
by the author will be found in the index.

NOTE ON NOMENCLATURE

In identifying the zoological sptr.ictt described in thw volume
I am indebted for did to mi/ friend* find totfatfrtw Jlr. */* 2\
jftowflfltefrtt, tfl/b ^$# (jrrwtf through the whoh and gir&n m& the
modern equivalents of the Latin wwea ; altfmtgh /te twm« ti^f
that in a good wiany ca$eft the %d$ntifiG($tion is d&u&tful.

Thwe are consequemUy some discrepancies belitmn the nmwn-
clature, in the, tran$la£ian here and tfuti wed in Bnok f, i!Ae
Table of Contents. Pliny jwemm&hly compiled %t afitr rom-
pitting the rest of the uwr& ; but (t$ tditorial exig&mi&s pw&twi&i
the pofitptftiement of Volume I of tM# translation till the (tihtr*
mr& finished 1 1 had to b& content, for Book lt with th& r$nd$ring®
given in Lewiti and $hort or in Rostock rtw! jKil^y^ tranrftttinn*

H. B.

CONTENTS

IPREIB'AOE .,„.....

PAQK
Y

INTRODUCTION » . * . ,

...... is

BOOK VIII

1

BOOK IX .

163

BOOK 3C

291

BOOK XI , 431

INDEX , . . ^ . 613

Vll

INTRODUCTION

THIS volume contains Books VIII-XI of Pliny's
Naturalis Historia\ their subject is Zoology.

The detailed contents will be found in Pliny's
own outline of his work, which, with lists of the
authorities used for each Book, constitutes Book I;
for Books VIII-XI see Volume I, pp. 40-64, of this
edition.

Book VIII deals with various mammals, wild and
domesticated; and among them are introduced
snakes, crocodiles and lizards.

Book IX treats aquatic species, including Nereids,
Tritons and the sea-serpent. There are considerable
passages on their economic aspects — the use of fish
as food, pearls, dyes obtained from fish, and on their
physiology, sensory and reproductive.

Book X. Ornithology : hawks trained for fowling ;
birds of evil omen ; domestication of birds for food ;
talking birds; reproduction. Appendix on other
viviparous species, passing on to animals in general
— their methods of reproduction, senses, nutrition,
friendship and hostility between different species,
sleep.

Book XL Insects, their physiology and habits —
especially bees, silk-worms, spiders. Classification
of animals by varieties of bodily structure — animal
and human physiology.

IX

PLINY :
NATURAL HISTORY

BOOK VIII

VOL, III.

PL1NU: NATURALIS HISTORIA
I.I HER VIII

I, AD reliqua Iranseamus anhnalia rt primum
tervostria.

Maximum csi dephans proximumquo humanis
sensibus, quippe intellect us illis sermonis patrii et
hnpcrioruiu obcdientia, oftieiorum (juao didk'civ
inomovia, ainoris et gloviae vuluptas, hnino vero
qviae otiuiu in homine rani, probitas, prudcntia,
aequitfts, roligio quoqut1, siclerum solistjiu*. ac lunac

2 voncratio. auctin-cs stint in Mauretaniae saltibus
acl quondam amncrn cui notnon est Anulo niU'so<*nt<*
lima nova grogcs eorum divscondcri^ ibiquo se puri-
ficnntes sollemniter aqua eircimmpergi atqu« it a
salutato sidore in silvas rovcrti vitulorum faiigatos

l\ prae so lorenlcs. alienae quoquc vcligioiiis Intel-
lectu creduniuv maria transit uri non ante navcvs con-
Kcenclere qtwm invilati reotoris iuroiurando de reditu*
visique simt fessi aegritudine (quando et illas moles
infestant niorbi) herbas supini in oaelunx iadentes,

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

BOOK VIII

I. LET us pass to the rest of the animals, and first zoology.
those that live on land, 2^

The largest land animal is the elephant, and it is The tie-
the nearest to man in intelligence : it understands '
the language of its country and obeys orders3 remem- [
bers duties that it has been taught, is pleased by
affection and by marks of honour, nay more it
possesses virtues rare even in man, honesty, wis-
dom, justice, also respect for the stars and reverence
for the sun and moon. Authorities state that in
the forests of Mauretania, when the new moon is
shining, herds of elephants go down to a river named
Amilo and there perform a ritual of purification,
sprinkling themselves with water, and after thus
paying their respects to the moon return to the
woods carrying before them those of their calves
who are tired. They are also believed to understand
the obligations of another's religion in so far as to
refuse to embark on board ships when going overseas
before they are lured on by the mahout's sworn
promise in regard to their return, And they have
been seen when exhausted by suffering (as even
those vast frames are attacked by diseases) to lie
on their backs and throw grass up to the heaven,

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vcluti iclluro preeilms allegata. nam quod ml
doeiliiutcm at thief regain adorant, genua submit tunU
coronas porrigunt. hulls arant minores, quo** appel-
lant no thus.

4 TI, Romae iunoti priinuin subiere eurrum Pompei
Magni Africano tviumpho, quod prius India victa
triumphant e Libero patre memoratur. Prociliu^
negat potuisse Pompoi triumplio iunotos ogredi
port a. (Jennaniei Cacsaris muncre gladiatono quos-
dam ctiam inconditos meatus1 edidere saltanthnn

r> modo, vulgare crat per auras anna iaccrc non
aufor<*nlil)iis vcntis atque Inter se gladiatorios con-
gressas edcre aut lascivicnti pyrriche conludere.
postea (it per funes inccssere, lecticis etiaiu fiTcntt\s
quaterni singulos puerperas imitant(»s, ploniKquc
homine tricliniis accubiium ierc per lectos it a libra Hs

i> vestigils ne quls potantium nttingeretur. III*
Cerium esfc unum tardioris ingenti in accipicndi^
quae tradebantur saepius castigatum verberibus
eadem ilia meditantcm noct.u rcpcrtum. minwn
et advcrsis quidcm funibus subirc, sed maxime *
regredi,3 utiquc pronis, Mucianus ni constil auot<ir
csfc aliquem ex his efe litterarum ductu-s Graeearum
didioisse solitutnquc pcrscribere eitis linguae verbis :

1 vj. mottis.

8 maxnno hie Mayhoff: paxt nii
i magis.

BOOK VIII. i. 3-in. 6

as though deputing the earth to support their prayers.
Indeed so far as concerns docility, they do homage
to their king by kneeling before him and proffering
garlands. The Indians employ the smaller breed,
which they call the bastard elephant, for ploughing. /S?/n

II. At Rome they were first used in harness to y*"%om
draw the chariot of Pompey the Great in his African for shows.
triumph, as they are recorded to have been used
before when Father Liber went in triumph after
his conquest of India. Procilius states that at
Pompey 's triumph the team of elephants were
unable to pass out through the gate. At the gladia-
torial show given by Germanicus Caesar some even
performed clumsy movements in figures, like dancers.
It was a common display for them to hurl weapons
through the air without the wind making them
swerve, and to perform gladiatorial matches with one
another or to play together in a sportive war-dance.
Subsequently they even walked on tight-ropes, four
at a time actually carrying in a litter one that pre-
tended to be a lady lying-in ; and walked among the
couches in dining-rooms full of people to take their
places among the guests, planting their steps care-
fully so as not to touch any of the drinking party.
III. It is known that one elephant which was rather instances o/
slow-witted in understanding instructions given to it p'~
and had been punished with repeated beatings, was
found in the night practising the same. It is sur-
prising that they can even climb up ropes, but especi-
ally that they can come down them again, at all
events when they are stretched at a slope. Mucianus
who was three times consul states that one elephant
actually learnt the shapes of the Greek letters, and
used to write out in words of that language : * I myself

5

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Ipsc ego haee scvipsi oi spolia Celtica dioa\i,' if cin-
que se vidcnto Puteolis, cum aclvecti c nave egredi
cogerentnr, territos spatio pontis proeul a continence
porrecti, ut sese longinquitatis aesliniationo fallcrcnt,
awrsos i*etrorsus isse.

7 IV. Pniodain ipsi in se cxpott'iiduin soiinit solam
esse in armis suis quae luha cornua nppollat, llrrodo-
tuH tanto atiti(iiiior <kl consuetudo molius dcntcs;
quamobrcin dociduos casu altquo vel sencota drft>di-
\int. hoc soluni cbur cst : cclero ci in his (ju<x|uc
quae corpus intcxit vililas osso.a; (juaniquain nuper
ossa ctiam in laininas seoari coepero pacnuria^ot'onitn
rara amplitude iani dcnt.iutn praiitcrquain ex ladin
repcrihir, cetera in nostro orbc ccssore luxtiriat\

S dcntium candore intellcgitur iuvcnhi. circa hos
bcluis sununa cura: alteiius mucroni parcuni ne sit
proeliis hobes, altcrhis operario usu fodiuut radices,
inpcllunt moles ; circnmventique a vanantibun primes
constiiuunt quibus sint minumi, ne tanti proelium
putctm% postea fcssi inpactos arbori frangunt pracda-
qtio se redimunt,

0 V. Mirum in plerisque animalium scire quare

« in, 07,

BOOK VIII. ni. 6-v. 9

wrote this and dedicated these spoils won from the
Celts ; f and also that he personally had seen elephants
that, when having been brought by sea to Pozzuoli
they were made to walk off the ship, were frightened
by the length of the gangway stretching a long way
out from the land and turned round and went
backwards, so as to cheat themselves in their estima-
tion of the distance,

IV. They themselves know that the only thing in
them that makes desirable plunder is in their weapons
which Juba calls ' horns,5 but which the author so
greatly his senior, Herodotus,0 and also common usage
better term ' tusks ; ' consequently when these fall
off owing to some accident or to age they bury them
in the ground. The tusk alone is of ivory : otherwise
even in these animals too the skeleton forming the
framework of the body is common bone; albeit
recently owing to our poverty even the bones have
begun to be cut into layers, inasmuch as an ample
supply of tusks is now rarely obtained except from
India, all the rest in our world having succumbed to
luxury. A young elephant is known by the white-
ness of its tusks, The beasts take the greatest care of
them; they spare the point of one so that it may
not be blunt for fighting and use the other as an
implement for digging roots and thrusting massive
objects forward; and when surrounded by a party
of hunters they post those with the smallest tusks
in front, so that it may be thought not worth while
to fight them, and afterwards when exhausted they
break their tusks by dashing them against a tree
and ransom themselves at the price of the desired
booty.

V. It is remarkable in the case of most animals

7

PLINY; t NATURAL HISTORY

petantur, seel et fere l euneta quid eaveant* elephants
hominc obvio forte in solitudine et shnplieiter
oberrante demons plueidusque etium demonstrate
viam traditur, idem vestigio hominis animadverso
prius qunm homine inlremeseere insidiarum meiu,
subsistere olfaelu,2 eireumspeetare, Iras proflare,
nee calcare sed erutum proxumo tradere, ilium
scquexati, simili mm Ho usque acl cxtremum, tune
agmen ciroumagi et rcvcrti acioinquc dirigi : adeo
omnium odori clurare virus illud, maiorc ex parle ne
30 nudorum quidem pedum. sic et tigris, etiam fens
eeteris truculenta atque ipsa ele.phanti quoque
spernens vestigia, hominis viso transfcrre dieitur pro-
tinus catulos— quonam modo agnito, ubi ante con-
speeto illo quem limet? ctonim tales silvas minime
frequentari certum cst. sane mirentur ipsam vestigii
raritatem; sed unde sennit timcndum esse? ixnmo
vero cur vel ipsius conspectum paveant tanto
viribus, magnitudine, veloeitate praestantiores ? nimi-
runi liaee est natura reruxii, haec potentia eius,
saevissimas feramm maximasque numquam vidlsse
quod debeant timere et statim intellegere cum sit
timondum.

1 &alm. : ot per. * v.L ah olfactu.

BOOK VIII. v. 9-10

that they know why they are hunted, but also that Elephants
almost all know what they must beware of. It is said {^4.
that when an elephant accidentally meets a human
being who is merely wandering across its track in a
solitary place it is good-tempered and peaceful and
will actually show the way ; but that when on the other
hand it notices a man's footprint before it sees the
man himself it begins to tremble in fear of an ambush,
stops to sniff the scent, gazes round, trumpets
angrily, and avoids treading on the footprint but
digs it up and passes it to the next elephant, and
that one to the following, and on to the last of all
with a similar message, and then the column wheels
round and retires and a battle line is formed : since
the smell in question lasts to be scented by them all,
though in the majority of cases it is not even the
smell of bare feet. Similarly a tigress also, it is
said, even though savage to all other animals and
herself scorning the footprints even of an elephant,
when she sees the track of a human being at once
carries her cubs elsewhere — though, how has she
recognized or where has she seen before the person
that she fears ? For it is certain that such forests are
very little frequented. Granted that no doubt they
may be surprised by the mere rarity of the print ;
but how do they know that it is something to be
afraid of? Indeed there is a further point, why
should they dread even the sight of a man himself
when they excel him so greatly in strength, size and
speed? Doubtless it is Nature's law and shows her
power, that the fiercest and largest wild beasts may
have never seen a thing that they ought to fear and
yet understand immediately wnen they have to
fear it.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

11 Klephanti gregatim semper ingredumtur; dueit
agmcn maxhmis natu, oogit aetat e pro\imus. amnem
transituri minhnos praemiltunt, ne maiorum ingressu
atterente alveum ereseat gurgitis altitudo, Antipaier
auctor csi duos Autiocho irgi in bellicis usil)us ot'lehros
ctiam cognonunibus fuisse ; ctonim navrrc ca. c<krtc
C'ato, cum inpcratoruni nornina annalibus detraxrrit,
ek'phantum l qui fortissini<* proeliatu^ os^ef in Punicn
acie Syrum tradidit vocatum allero <k'ititv mulilaio.

IL* Antiocho vadum fiuniints exponent! reuuit Aia\,
alioqui dux agminis semper; turn pronuntiatuiu eius
fore pricipatum qui transisset, ausumque Patroclum
ob id phaleris argent cis, (juo maxinie gaudeni, el
rcliquo omni primatu donavit. illc qui not abut ur
inedia mortem ignominiae praetulit ; mims namque
pudor estj victusque voeem fugit viotoris, terrain no

13 verbenas porrigit. pudore mini(juani nisi in abdito
cocunt, mas qninquennisj femina deeennis; initur
atitem biennio quinis, ut fenmt,_ euius<jue anni diebus
nee amplius, sexto perfunduntur amne, non ante
reduces ad agmcn. nee adulteria novere, nullavts
propter fominas inter so proelia eeteris animalibtis

<* Tlie term in uned of branches of bay, olive and other
trees used for ritual purpoHoH.

10

BOOK VIII. v, IT-IS

Elephants always travel in a herd; the oldest its mtti*
leads the column and the next oldest brings up the lSmil?nse
rear. When going' to ford a river they put the and affection.
smallest in front, so that the bottom may not be
worn away by the tread of the larger ones, thus
increasing the depth of the water. Antipater states
that two elephants employed for military purposes
by King Antiochus were known to the public even
by name ; indeed they know their own names. It is
a fact that Cato, although he has removed the
names of military commanders from his Annals,
has recorded that the elephant in the Carthaginian
army that was the bravest in battle was called the
Syrian, and that it had one broken tusk. When
Antiochus was trying to ford a river his elephant
Ajax refused, though on other occasions it always
led the line; thereupon Antiochus issued an
announcement that the elephant that crossed should
have the leading place and he rewarded Patroclus,
who made the venture, with the gift of silver harness,
an elephant's greatest delight, and with every other
mark of leadership. The one disgraced preferred
death by starvation to humiliation ; for the elephant
has a remarkable sense of shame, and when defeated
shrinks from the voice of its conqueror, and offers him
earth and foliage .(Z Owing to their modesty, elephants
never mate except in secret, the male at the age of
five and the female at ten ; and mating takes place
for two years, on five days, so it is said, of each year
and not more; and on the sixth day they give
themselves a shower-bath in a river, not returning
to the herd before. Adultery is unknown among
them, or any of the fighting for females that is so
disastrous to the other animals — though not because

ii

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pernieialia, nee quia desit illis amoris vis, namque
traditur unus amasse quandam in Aogypto eorallas
vendentem ac (ne quis volgaritor cleotam putet)
mire gratam Aristophani eeleberrimo in arte gramrna-

14 tioa, alius Menandrum Syracusanuni incipientis
iuventae in excrcitu Ptolomaci, desiderium eius, quo-
tiens non videret, incdia testatiis* et unguentarmm
quandam dilectam luba tradifc. omnium aniorls fuere
argumenta gaudium ad conspoctum blanditiacquc
inconditae, stipesque quas poptilus dcdisset servatae
et in sinum cffusae. nee mirurn es«c amorom quibus

15 sitmemoria, idem namque tradit agnitum in senecta
multos post annos qui rector in iuventa fuisset ; idem
divinationem quandam iustitiae, cum Bacchus rex
triginta elephantis totidem in quos saevire instituerat
sttpitibus adligatos obiecisset, procursantibus inter
cos qui lacesserent, nee l potuisse cffici ut crudelitatis
alienae ministcrio fungcrcntur.

i« VL Elephantos Italia primum vidit Pyrri regis
bello et boves Lucas appellavit in Lucanis viso anno
urbis ccccLXxiv,2 Boma autem in triumpho v3
annis ad superiorem numerum additis, eadem pluri-
mos anno DII victoria L, Metelli pontificis in Sicilia

1 v*L non.

0 The MS. reading crronwmnly gives tho dato of Pyrrlnis's
invasion as A.tr.c. 472, 282 t*.a.» and ao it puts th© mumph
of M*Curius Dentatua after defeating Fyrrhus at Jtenoventum
(A*U,C. 479, 275 B.C.) sovon years later.

12

BOOK VIIL v. i3-vL 16

they are devoid of strong affection, for it is re-
ported that one elephant in Egypt fell in love with a
girl who was selling flowers, and (that nobody may
think that it was a vulgar choice) who was a remark-
able favourite of the very celebrated scholar Aris-
tophanes ; and another elephant is said to have fallen
in love with a young soldier in Ptolemy's army, a
Syracusan named Menander, and whenever it did
not see him to have shown its longing for him by
refusing food. Also Juba records a girl selling scent
who was loved by an elephant. In all these cases
the animals showed their affection by their delight
at the sight of the object and their clumsy gestures
of endearment, and by keeping the branches given
to them by the public and showering them in the
loved one's lap. Nor is it surprising that animals
possessing memory are also capable of affection.
For the same writer records a case of an elephant's
recognizing many years later in old age a man who
had been its mahout in its youth, and also an instance
of a sort of insight into justice, when King Bocchus
tied to stakes thirty elephants which he intended to
punish and exposed them to a herd of the same
number, men running out among them to provoke
them to the attack, and it proved impossible to make
them perform the service of ministering to another's
cruelty,

VI. Italy saw elephants for the first time in the Mrsta
war with King Pyrrhus, and called them Lucan ^
oxen because they were seen in Lucania, 280 a B.C. ; wi
but Rome first saw them at a date five years later,
in a triumph, and also a very large number that were
captured from the Carthaginians in Sicily by the
victory of the pontiff Lucius Metellus, 252 B.C.

13

PUNY: NATURAL HTSTOKY

do Poenis captos. cxui fuerc aut, ut quidnm, rxL
travecti ratibxis quas doliorum consertis ordinibus

17 inposuernt. Vcrrius cos pugnasse in circo inter-
fectosque iaoulis tradit, paenuria eonsiliu quoniam
neque all placuisset nequc donari rcgibus; L. Piso
indue tos dunxtaxat in exrcutu at quo, ut oontcmptus
eorum inoresceret, ah opcrariis Imstas praopilataH
habentibxis per cirouni totxmi actos. nee qwld dcinde
iis factum sit auctores explicant qui nan putant
interfectos,

IB VII. Clara est unius e Romania dimicatio ad ver-
sus elephanturn, cum Hannibal captivos nostros
dimicarc inter sese coegisset, namque unurn qui
supererat obiecit elephanto, ct ille, dimitti pactus «i
interemisset, solus in harena congressus magno
Poenorum dolorc confccit. Hannibal, cum fnmam
eius dimicationis contemptum adlaturam beluis
intdlegeret, equites misit qui abeuntern interficerent*
proboscidem eorum facillime amputari Pyrri proelio-

19 rum experimentis patuit, Romae pugnasse Fenestella
tradit primum omnium in circo Claudi Pulohri
aedilitate curuli M. Antonio A. Postumio coss. anno
xirbis DCLV, item post annos viginti Lucullorum

20 aedilitate curuli adversus tauros* Pompei quoque

4 55 B,O.
14

BOOK VIII. vi. ifr-vn. 20

There were 142 of them, or by some accounts 140,
and they had been brought over on rafts that
Metellus constructed by laying decks on rows of
casks lashed together. Verrius records that they
fought in the Circus and were killed with javelins,
because it was not known what use to make of them,
as it had been decided not to keep them nor to
present them to native kings ; Lucius Piso says that
they were merely led into the Circus, and in order to
increase the contempt felt for them were driven all
round it by attendants carrying spears with a button
on the point. The authorities who do not think that
they were killed do not explain what was done with
them afterwards,

VII. There is a famous story of one of the Romans
fighting single-handed against an elephant, on the j

occasion when Hannibal had compelled his prisoners the circus.
from our army to fight duels with one another. For
he pitted one survivor against an elephant, and this
man, having secured a promise of his freedom if he
killed the animal, met it single-handed in the arena
and much to the chagrin of the Carthaginians dis-
patched it, Hannibal realized that reports of this
encounter would bring the animals into contempt, so
he sent horsemen to kill the man as he was departing.
Experiences in our battles with Pyrrhus made it
clear that it is very easy to lop off an elephant's
trunk. Fenestella states that the first elephant
fought in the circus at Rome in the curule aedileship
of Claudius Pulcher and the consulship of Marcus
Antonius and Aulus Postumius, 99 B.C., and also that
the first fight of an elephant against bulls was twenty
years later in the curule aedileship of the Luculll
Also in Pompey's second consulship,*1 at the dedica-

PUNY: NATURAL HISTORY

altero consulatu, decllcatione templi Veneris Victricis,
viginti pugnavere in eirco aut, ut quidam tradunt,
xvn, Gaetulis ex advcrsa iaculantibus, mirabili
xmius dimicationc, qui pedibus confossis repsit genibus
in catervas, abrcpta scuta iaciens in sublime, quae
decidentia voluptati speetantibus erant in orboni
circumacta, velut ai'te non furore beluae iacerentur,
magnum et in altero miraeulum fuit uno ictu ocoiso ;
pilum ctcnim l sub oculo adactum in vitalia oapitis
venerat, xmiversi cruptioncm tomptaverc, non sine
vexationc populi, circutndatis claustris ferrci?». qua
de causa Caesar dictator postea simile spectaoulum
editurus euripis harenam oircumdedit, quos Nero
princcps sustulit equiti loca addens, sed Pompeinni
missa ftigae spc misericordiam vulgi incnarrabili
habitu quaerentcs supplicavere quadam sesc lamcn-
tatione conplorantes, tanto populi dolore ut obli-
tus imperatoris ac munificentiaa honori sue exquisitae
fiens uni versus consurgeret dirasque Pompeio quas
ille mox luit2 inprecaretur. pugnavere et Caesari
dictatori tertio consulatu eius viginti contra pedites
D, iterumque totidem turriti cum sexagenis pro-

1 etenim? MayHoff: an torn.
8 v.L luit poenaa.

0 49 B»O» * 40 B,C,

16

BOOK VIII. VII. 20-22

tion of the Temple of Venus Victrix, twenty, or, as
some record, seventeen, fought in the Circus, their
opponents being Gaetulians armed with javelins, one
of the animals putting up a marvellous fight — its feet
being disabled by wounds it crawled against the
hordes of the enemy on its knees, snatching their
shields from them and throwing them into the air,
and these as they fell delighted the spectators by
the curves they described, as if they were being
thrown by a skilled juggler and not by an infuriated
wild animal. There was also a marvellous occurrence
in the case of another, which was killed by a single
blow, as the javelin striking it under the eye had
reached the vital parts of the head. The whole
band attempted to burst through the iron palisading
by which they were enclosed and caused considerable
trouble among the public. Owing to this, when
subsequently Caesar in his dictatorship a was going to
exhibit a similar show he surrounded the arena with
channels of water ; these the emperor Nero removed
when adding special places for the Knighthood,
But Pompey's elephants when they had lost all hope
of escape tried to gain the compassion of the crowd
by indescribable gestures of entreaty, deploring
their fate with a sort of wailing, so much to the
distress of the public that they forgot the general and
his munificence carefully devised for their honour,
and bursting into tears rose in a body and invoked
curses on the head of Pompey for which he soon
afterwards paid the penalty. Elephants also fought
for the dictator Caesar in his third consulship,6 twenty
being matched against 500 foot soldiers, and on a
second occasion an equal number carrying castles
each with a garrison of GO men, who fought a pitched

17
VOL. m. c

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pugnatoribus eodem quo priore numero peditum et
pari equitum ex adverse dimicante, postea singuli
principibus Claudio et Neroni in consummatione
gladiatorum.

23 Ipsius animalis tanta narratur dementia contra
minus validos ut in grege pecudum occurrentia manu
dimoveat, ne quod obterat inprudens. nee nisi
lacessiti nocent, idque cum gregatim semper ambu-
lent, minime ex omnibus solivagi. equitatu circum-
venti mfirmos aut fessos vulneratosve in medium
agmen recipiunt, aciei1 velut imperio aut ratione per
vices subeunt.

24 Capti celerrime mitificantur hordei suco. VIII.
capiuntur autem in India unum ex domitis agente
rector e qui deprehensum solitarium abactumve a
grege verberet ferum; quo fatigato transcendit in
eum nee secus ac priorem regit. Africa foveis capit,
in quas deerrante aliquo protinus ceteri congerunt
ramos, moles devolvunt, aggeres construunt, omni-

25 que vi conantur extrahere. ante domitandi gratia
reges equitatu cogebant in convallem manu factam
et longo tractu fallacem, cuius inclusos ripis fossisque
fame domabant: argumentum erat ramus homine

1 JtaMam (acie Mneller] : ac.
18

BOOK VIII. vii. 22-vm. 25

battle against the same number of infantry as on the
former occasion and an equal number of cavalry ; and
subsequently for the emperors Claudius and Nero
elephants versus men single-handed, as the crowning
exploit of the gladiators' careers.

A story is told that the animal's natural gentleness Gentleness of
towards those not so strong as itself is so great that ekPhants
if it gets among a flock of sheep it will remove with
its trunk those that come in its way, so as not
unwittingly to crush one. Also they never do any
harm unless provoked, and that although they go
about in herds, being of all animals the least solitary
in habit. When surrounded by horsemen they with-
draw the weak ones or those that are exhausted or
wounded into the middle of their column, and
advance into the fighting line in relays as if by
command or strategy.

When captured they are very quickly tamed by Elephants
means of barley juice. VIII. The method of cap- £^r
turing them in India is for a mahout riding one of turn and
the domesticated elephants to find a wild elephant ^^ '
alone or detach it from the herd and to flog it, and
when it is tired out he climbs across on to it and
manages it as he did his previous mount. Africa
captures elephants by means of pit-falls ; when an
elephant straying from the herd falls into one of
these all the rest at once collect branches of trees
and roll down rocks and construct ramps, exerting
every effort in the attempt to get it out. Previously
for the purpose of taming them the kings used to
round them up with horsemen into a trench made
by hand so as to deceive them by its length, and
when they were enclosed within its banks and ditches
they were starved into submission ; the proof of this

19
c2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

porrigente clement or accept us. nune deniium
20 causa podes eorum iaeulantur alioqui mollissimos.
Trogodytae eonlermini Aethiopiae, qui hoc solo
vcnatu aluntur, propinquas it men eorum conseondunt
arborcsj inde totius agminis iwussinwm spt^culati
extrcinas in dunes desiliunl ; larva «d])rehenditur
oauda, pedcs stipaniur in sinistro feminc; ita
pcndens alterum poplitcm dexlra caedit ae l praeacut a
bipenni, hoc crure tardato profugienti a alterius
poplitis ncrvos ferit, ctinota praeceleri pernicitate
pcragens* alii tutiore generc sed magis fallaci
ingentos arcus intentos defigunt humi longius ; hos
pra(icipai viribus iuvenos continent, alii conixi pan
conatu tondunt ac praeteretmtibus sagittarum
vice3 venabula Infigimt, mox sanguinis vestigk
secuntur.

27 IX. Elophantorum generis feniinae multo pavi-
diores. domnntur nut em rabidi fame et verberibtiR,
elephantls aliis admotis qxii tuxnultuantcm cutenfs
coerceant, ot alias circa coitus maxime ofierantur
et stabula Indorum dentibxis sternunt. quapropter
arcent cos coitu feminarumque pecuaria soparant,
quae haud alio modo quam armentorum habent,
domiti militant et tores armatorum in dorsis ferunt,

1 t? ./. om, ao. B ftatkkcm : profugiens.

3 vioo add*

20

BOOK VIII. viii, 25-ix. 27

would be if when a man held out a branch to them
they gently took it from him. At the present day
hunters for the sake of their tusks shoot them with
javelins in the foot, which in fact is extremely soft.
The Cavemen on the frontier of Ethiopia, whose only
food is elephant meat obtained by hunting, climb
up trees near the elephants' track and there keep a
look out for the last of the whole column and jump
down on to the hind part of its haunches ; the tail is
grasped in the man's left hand and his feet are
planted on the animal's left thigh, and so hanging
suspended, with his right hand and with a very
sharp axe he hamstrings one leg, and as the
elephant runs forward with its leg crippled he strikes
the sinews of the other leg, performing the whole
of these actions with extreme rapidity. Others
employing a safer but less reliable method fix great
bows rather deep in the ground, unbent ; these are
held in position by young men of exceptional strength,
while others striving with a united effort bend them,
and as the elephants pass by they shoot them with
hunting-spears instead of arrows and afterwards
follow the tracks of blood.

IX. The females of the genus elephant are much Training of
more timid than the males, Mad elephants can be
tamed by hunger and blows, other elephants being
'brought up to one that is unmanageable to restrain
it with chains. Besides this they get very wild
when in heat and overthrow the stables of the
Indians with their tusks. Consequently they prevent
them from coupling, and keep the herds of females
separate, in just the same way as droves of cattle
are kept* Male elephants when broken in serve in
battle and <Mry castles manned with airmed warriors

21

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

magnaquo ex pavte orient is holla eonfiehmt : pro-
stermmt ncic«, proterunt armatos. iidem minhno
Kilis stridoro terrontur; vulneraUque et ferriti retro
semper cedunt haut minorc pariium sunnnn pernieie,
Indiouin Afrioi pavont noo oontuori audont, naia ef
inaior Indicia magnitudo est.

28 X. Pocem nnnis gesture in utoro vulgus exist hnat,
Avisiotolcshionnio, uoo amplius (\\imn fseincl
plurosque quam] ^ sln^ulos, vivoro duoenis

et quosdam (re* iuv(»ntu corum a
inoipit. Gaudont aninihus niaxime et circa iiuxios
vagantur, cunt alio<|uin narc propter rt^agnitudinem
oorporis non possint, iidom frigoris inpatientos;
maximum hoc malum, inflationemque et profluvium
alvi nee alia morborum genera sentiunt. olei
potu tela qnne corpori eorum inhacreant decide re

29 invenio, a sudore autcni facilhis adhaereseere, et
terrain edisse iis tabificum est, nisi saepius inandant ;
devorant autem et lapides, truncos quidem gratiHsimo
in cibatu hahent, palmas excclsiorcs front** proster*
nunt atque itu inccntium absumunt fructum. man*
dunt ore, spirant et blbunt ordoranturque baud
inproprie appellata manu. animalium maxime odere
nuirem, et si pabulum in praesepio post turn attingl
ab eo videre fastidiunt. crucial um in potu maximum

0 This ie not the <sas©.

* S0m$ MSS. give * nevet bear more than once or moro than
on© at a time * ; bxit Aristotle^ statement is as above,
1L
mittake, with all the context, is from Aristotle*

22

BOOK VIII. ix. 27-x. 29

on their backs ; they are the most important factor
in eastern warfare, scattering the ranks before them
and trampling armed soldiers underfoot. Neverthe-
less they are scared by the smallest squeal of a pig;
and when wounded and frightened they always give
ground, doing as much damage to their own side as
to the enemy. African elephants are afraid of an
Indian elephant, and do not dare to look at it, as
Indian elephants are indeed of a larger size.*

X. Their period of gestation is commonly supposed Breeding
to be ten years, but Aristotle puts it at two years, ''
and says that they never bear more than one at a
time/' and that they live 200 and in some cases
300 years. Their adult life begins at 60. They take
the greatest pleasure in rivers and roam in the
neighbourhood of streams, although at the same
time they are unable to swim c because of the size
of their bodies, and also as they are incapable of
enduring cold : this is their greatest infirmity ; they
are also liable to flatulence and diarrhoea, but not
to other kinds of disease. I find it stated that
missiles sticking in their body fall out when they
drink oil, but that perspiration makes it easier for
them to keep their hold. It also causes them disease
to eat earth unless they chew it repeatedly; but
they devour even stones, consider trunks of trees a
great delicacy, and bend down the loftier palm trees
by butting against them with their foreheads and
when thus prostrate consume their fruit. They eat
with the mouth, but they breathe and drink and
smell with the organ not unsuitably called their
hand. They hate' the mouse worst, of living creatures,
and if they see one merely touch the fodder placed
in their stall they refuse it with disgust* They are

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sent hint hausta hirudme (quam sanguisugam vulgo
eoepisse appellari adverto) : haee ubi in ipso nninruu*
eanali se fixit, intolerando adfieit dolore.

30 Duribsixnum dorso tergus, ventri nu>lk% .sat*iarum
nullum tegimentum, nc in cauda quidcm prae&idhim
abigendo taedio muscarum— namque id et tanta
vawtitas sentit— sed cancellata cutis et invitans id
genus animalium odore; ergo cum extent is1 rece-
pere examina, artatis in rugas repente caacellls
eonprehensas enecant, hoc iis pro cauda, iuba,
villo est,

31 Dentibus ingens pretium et deovum simulacris
lautissima ex his materia. invenit luxun'a com-
mendationem et aliam expetiti in calk) mantis
saporis haut alia de causa, credo, quam quia ipsuni
abur sibi mandcre videtur. magnitudo clentium
videtur quidem in tcmplis praecipua, seel tamen In
extremis Africae, qua conflnis Acthiopine est,
postium vicem in domiciliis pracberc, saepesqua
in his et pecorum stabulis pro palis elephantorum
dentibus fieri Polybius trudldit auctore Gulusa
regulo.

32 XL Elephantos fert Africa ultra Syrticas solitti-
dines et in Mauretania, ferunt AcAiopes et Trogo-
dytae, ut dictum est, sed maximos India bellantesqtie

1 Mudlw ; ©xtenti,

* XXXIX* I, I

BOOK VIIL x, 29-xi. 32

liable to extreme torture if in drinking they swallow
a leech (the common name for which I notice has
now begun to be ' blood-sucker ') ; when this attaches
itself in the actual breathing passage it causes
intolerable pain.

The hide of the back is extremely hard, but that
of the belly is soft ; it has no covering of bristles,
not even on the tail as a guard for driving away the
annoyance of flies— for even that huge bulk is
sensitive to this — but the skin is creased, and is
inviting to this kind of creature owing to its smell ;
consequently they stretch the creases open and let
the swarms get in, and then crush them to death by
suddenly contracting the creases into wrinkles.
This serves them instead of tail, mane and fleece.

The tusks fetch a vast price, and supply a very /wry.
elegant material for images of the gods. Luxury
has also discovered another thing that recommends
the elephant, the flavour in the hard skin of the
trunk, sought after, I believe, for no other reason
than because the epicure feels that he is munching
actual ivory. Exceptionally large specimens of
tusks can indeed be seen in the temples, but never-
theless Polybius* has recorded on the authority of
the chieftain Gulusa & that in the outlying parts of
the province of Africa where it marches with Ethiopia
elephants' tusks serve instead of doorposts in the
houses, and partitions in these buildings and in
stabling for cattle are made by using elephants'
tusks lor poles,

XL Elephants are produced by Africa beyond the
deserts of Sidra and by the country of the Moors;
also by the land of Ethiopia and the Cave-dwellers,
as has beon said ; but the biggest ones by India, as

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cum his perpetua discordia dracones tantae magni-
tudinis et ipsos ut circumplexu facili ambiant nexuque
nodi praestringant. conmoriuntur ea dimicatione,1
victusque conruens conplexum elidit pondere,

33 XII. Mira animalium pro se cuique sollertia est,
ut his. una est scandendi 2 in tantam altitudinem
difficultas draconi; itaque tritum iter ad pabula
speculatus ab excelsa se arbore illicit, scit ille
inparem sibi luctatum contra nexus, itaque arbo-
rum aut rupium attritum quaerit. cavent hoc
dracones, ob idque gressus primum alligant cauda,
resolvunt illi nodos manu. at hi in ipsas nares
caput condunt, pariterque spiritum praecludunt
et mollissimas lancinant partes ; idem obvii depre-
hensi in adversos erigunt se oculosque maxime
petunt : ita fit ut plerumque caeci ac fame et maeroris
tabe confecti reperiantur.

34 Quam quis aliam tantae discordiae causam attulerit
nisi naturam spectaculum sibi ac paria conponentem ?

Est et alia dimicationis huius fama: elephantis
frigidissimum esse sanguinem, ob id aestu torrente
praecipue a draconibus expeti; quamobrem in am-

1 Detlefsen : coniinoritur ea dimicatio.

2 Detlefsen : una exscandendo.

a Viz, pythons,
26

BOOK VIII. xi. 32-xn. 34

well as serpents a that keep up a continual feud and

warfare with them, the serpents also being of so The Indian

large a size that they easily encircle the elephants

in their coils and fetter them with a twisted knot. snake-

In this duel both combatants die together, and the

vanquished elephant in falling crushes with its weight

the snake coiled round it.

XII. Every species of animal is marvellously
cunning for its own interests, as are those which we
are considering. One difficulty that the serpent has
is in climbing to such a height ; consequently it keeps
watch on the track worn by the elephant going to
pasture and drops on him from a lofty tree. The
elephant knows that he is badly handicapped in fight-
ing against the snake's coils, and therefore seeks to
rub it against trees or rocks. The snakes are on
their guard against this, and consequently begin by
shackling the elephants' steps with their tail. The
elephants untie the knots with their trunk. But
the snakes poke their heads right into the elephants'
nostrils, hindering their breathing and at the same
time lacerating their tenderest parts ; also when caught
in the path of the elephants they rear up against
them, going specially for their eyes : this is how it
comes about that elephants are frequently found
blind and exhausted with hunger and wasting
misery.

What other cause could anybody adduce for such
a quarrel save Nature arranging a match between a
pair of combatants to provide herself with a show ?

There is also another account of this contest — that
elephants are very cold-blooded, and consequently in
very hot weather are specially sought after by the
snakes; and that for this reason they submerge

27

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nes mersos insidiari bibentibus, coortosque 1 inligata
manu in aurem morsum defigere, quoniam is tantum
locus defend! non possit manu ; dracones esse tantos
ut totum sanguinem capiant, itaque elephantos ab
his ebibi siccatosque concidere et dracones inebriates
opprimi conmorique.

35 XIII. Generat eos Aethiopia Indicis pares, vice-
num cubitorum; id modo mirum unde cristatos
luba crediderit. Asachaei vocantur Aethiopes apud
quos maxime nascuntur, narrantque in maritimis
eorum quatecaos quinosque inter se cratium modo
inplexos erectis capitibus velificantes ad meliora
pabula Arabiae vehi fluctibus.

36 XIV. Megasthenes scribit in India serpentes in
tantam magmtudinem adolescere ut solidos hauriant
cervos taurosque, Metrodorus circa Rhyndacum
amnem in Ponto supervolantes quamvis alte pernici-

37 terque alites haustu raptas absorbeant. nota est in
Punicis bellis ad flumen Bagradam a Regulo impera-
tore ballistis tormentisque ut oppidum aliquod
expugnata serpens cxx pedum longitudinis ; pellis
eius maxillaeque usque ad bellum Numantinum
duravere Romae in templo. faciunt his fidem in
Italia appellatae boae 2 in tantam amplitudinem
exeuntes ut divo Claudio principe occisae in Vaticano

1 Mayhoff : coartatosque (contortosque Detlefsen).

2 v.L bovae.

0 In Africa near Utioa, now the Mejerdah ; 256 B.C.

6 142-133 B.C., resulting in the acknowledgement of Roman
supremacy in Spam.
28

BOOK VIII. xii, 34-xiv. 37

themselves in rivers and lie in wait for the elephants
when drinking, and rising up coil round the trunk
and imprint a bite inside the ear, because that place
only cannot be protected by the trunk ; and that the
snakes are so large that they can hold the whole of
an elephant's blood, and so they drink the elephants
dry, and these when drained collapse in a heap and
the serpents being intoxicated are crushed by them
and die with them.

XIII. Ethiopia produces elephants that rival those The African
of India, being 30 ft. high ; the only surprising thing ele^hant-

is what led Juba to believe them to be crested. The
Ethiopian tribe in whose country they are chiefly
bred are called the Asachaeans ; it is stated that in
the coast districts belonging to this tribe the elephants
link themselves four or five together into a sort of
raft and holding up their heads to serve as sails are
carried on the waves to the better pastures of
Arabia.

XIV. Megasthenes writes that in India snakes Swfos of
grow so large as to be able to swallow stags and bulls e^Uoml
whole ; and Metrodorus that in the neighbourhood

of the river Rhyndacus in Pontus they catch and
gulp down birds passing over them even though they
are flying high and fast. There is the well-known
case of the snake 120 ft. long that was killed during
the Punic Wars on the River Bagradas® by General
Regulus, using ordnance and catapults just as if
storming a town; its skin and jaw-bones remained
in a temple at Rome down to the Numantine War.&
Credibility attaches to these stories on account of
the serpents in Italy called boas, which reach such
dimensions that during the principate of Claudius
of blessed memory a whole child was found in the

29

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

solidus in alvo spectatus sit infans. aluntur prime
bubuli lactis suco, unde nomen traxere.

38 XV. Ceterorum animalium quae modo convecta
undique Italiam x contigere 2 saepius formas nihil
attinet scrupulose referre. paucissima Scythia gignit
inopia fruticum ; pauca contermina illi Germania,
insignia tamen bourn ferorum genera, iubatos
bisontes excellentique et vi et velocitate uros,
quibus inperitum volgus bubalorum nomen. inponit,
cum id gignat Africa vituli potius cervique quadam

39 similitudine. XVI. Septentrio fert et equorum gre-
ges ferorum, sicut asinorum Asia et Africa, praeterea
alcen, iuvenco similem ni proceritas aurium et cervicis
distingueret ; 3 item natam in Scadinavia insula nee
umquam visam in hac urbe,4 multist amen narratam
achlin, haud dissimilem illi, sed nullo suffraginum
flexu ideoque non cubantem sed adclinem arbori
in somno, eaque incisa ad insidias capi, alias velo-
citatis memoratae. labrum ei superius praegrande ;
ob id retrograditur in pascendo, ne in prior a tendens

40 involvatur. tradunt in Paeonia feram quae bonasus
vocetur equina iuba, cetera tauro similem, cornibus

1 Hardouin : Italiae.

2 contigit videre ? Dalecamp.

3 Mayhoff: distinguat, -ant.

4 v.l. hoc orbe.

a Bos primigenius, now extinct.

* Perhaps the moose or the reindeer, though the statement
about its leg is of course untrue. Achlis is presumably a
vernacular name.

e Probably Zealand.

* So far this startling account of the achlis comes from
Caesar, B.G. vi 27, where it is given of the akes of the

30

BOOK VIII. xiv. 37-xvi. 40

belly of one that was killed on the Vatican Hill.
Their primary food is milk sucked from a cow;
from this they derive their name.

XV. It is not our concern to give a meticulous other mu
account of all the other species of animals that recently %^m
have reached Italy more frequently by importation countries.
from all quarters. Scythia, owing to its lack of
vegetation, produces extremely few ; its neighbour
Germany few, but some remarkable breeds of wild
oxen, the maned bison and the exceptionally power-
ful and swift aurochs ,a to which the ignorant masses
give the name of buffalo, though the buffalo is
really a native of Africa and rather bears some
resemblance to the calf and the stag. XVI The
North also produces herds of wild horses, as do Asia
and Africa of wild asses, and also the elk, which
resembles a bullock save that it is distinguished by
the length of its ears and neck ; also the achlis,6 born
in the island of Scandinavia c and never seen in Rome,
although many have told stories of it— an animal
that is not unlike the elk but has no joint at the hock
and consequently is unable to lie down but sleeps
leaning against a tree, and is captured by the tree
being cut through to serve as a trap/ but which
nevertheless has a remarkable turn of speed. Its
upper lip is exceptionally big ; on account of this it
walks backward when grazing, so as to avoid getting
tripped up by it in moving forward. There are
reports of a wild animal in Paeonia called the bonasus, «
which has the mane of a horse but in all other
respects resembles a bull ; its horns are curved back

silva Hercynia, wlu'oh included the Black Forest and the
Harz,
* "Probably the aurochs again.

31

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ita in se flexis ut non sint utilia pugnae ; quapropter
fuga sibi auxiliari reddentem in ea nrnum interdum
et trium iugertim longitudine, cuius contactus se-
quentes ut ignis aliquis amburat.

41 XVII. Mirum pardos, pantheras, leones et similia
condito in corporis vaginas unguium mucrone, ne
refringantur hebetenturve, ingredi, aversisque falculis
currere nee nisi in adpetendo protendere.

42 Leoni praecipua generositas turn 1 cum colla ar-
mosque vestiunt iubae; id enim aetate contingit
e leone conceptis, quos vero pardi generavere semper
insigni hoc carent; simili modo feminae. magna
his libido coitus et'ob hoc maribus ira; Africa haec
maxime spectat inopia aquarum ad paucos amnes
congregantibus se feris. ideo multiformes ibi ani-
malium partus varie feminis cuiusque generis mares
aut vi aut voluptate miscente. unde etiam vulgare
Graeciae dictum semper aliquid novi Africam adferre.

43 odore pardi coitum sentit in adultera leo totaque vi
consurgit in poenam ; idcirco ea culpaflumine abluitur,
aut longius comitatur. semel aut em edi partum
lacerato unguium acieutero in enixu volgum credidisse

1 turn ? Mayhoff : tune.

a The species so called is really a large Indian Jeopard.
b 'Act AijSify <£e/>a n Kawov, Aristotle, Hist. An., 606& 20.

BOOK VIII. xvi. 40-xvii. 43

in such a manner as to be of no use for fighting, and
it is said that because of this it saves itself by running
away, meanwhile emitting a trail of dung that some-
times covers a distance of as much as three furlongs,
contact with which scorches pursuers like a sort of
fire. 4

XVII, It is remarkable that leopards, panthers,*
lions and similar animals walk with the point of their *£!^
claws sheathed inside the body so that they may not
get broken or blunted, and run with their talons
turned back and do not extend them except when
attempting to catch something.

The lion is specially high-spirited at the time when
its neck and shoulders are clothed with a mane — for
this occurs at maturity, in the case of those sired by
a lion, though those begotten by leopards always
lack this characteristic; and the females likewise.
Sexual passion is strong in this species, with its
consequence of quarrelsomeness in the males ; this
is most observed in Africa, where the shortage of
water makes the animals flock to the few rivers.
There are consequently many varieties of hybrids in
that country, either violence or lust mating the males
with the females of each species indiscriminately.
This is indeed the origin of the common saying of
Greece that Africa is always producing some
novelty.6 A lion detects intercourse with a leopard
in the case of an adulterous mate by scent, and
concentrates his entire strength on her chastisement ;
consequently this guilty stain is washed away in a
stream, or else she keeps her distance when accom-
panying him. But I notice that there used to be
a popular belief that the lioness only bears a cub
once, as her wdmb is wounded by the points of

33

VOL. III. D

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

video. Aristoteles diversa tradit, vir queni in his mag-

44 na secuturus ex parte praefandum reor. Alexandro
Magno rege inflammato cupidine animalium naturas
noscendi delegataque hac comment atione Aristoteli,
summo in omni doctrina viro, aliquot milia hominum
In totius Asiae Graeciaeque tractu parere ei1 iussa,
omnium quos venatus, aucupia piscatusque alebant
quibusque vivaria, armenta, * alvearia, piscinae,
aviaria in cur a erant, ne quid usquam genitum
ignoraretur ab eo. quos percunctando quinquaginta
ferme volumina ilia praeclara de animalibus condidit.
quae a me collecta in artum cum iis quae ignoraverat
quaeso ut legentes boni consulant, in universis
rerum naturae operibus medioque clarissimi regum
omnium desiderio cura nostra breviter perigrinantes,

45 is ergo tradit leaenam primo fetu parere quinque
catulos, ac per annos singulos uno minus,2 ab uno
sterilescere ; informes minimasque carnes magni-
tudine mustellarum esse initio, semenstres vix ingredi
posse nee nisi bimenstres moveri ; in Europa autem
inter Acheloum tantum Mestumque amnes leones
esse, sed longe viribus praestantiores iis quos Africa
et 3 Syria gignant.

46 XVIII. Leonum duo genera: conpactile et breve
crispioribus iubis — hos pavidiores esse quam longos

1 ei add. Harduin. 2 v.L singulis minus.

3 Rackhami aut.

0 Herodotus III, 108. 6 Tlie Aspropota-nio.
c Or Nestus, now the Mesto, in Thrace.

34

BOOK VIII. xvn. 43-xvm. 46

its claws in delivery.0 Aristotle, however, whose Aristotle'*
authority I feel bound to cite first as I am going in
great part to follow him on these subjects, gives a
different account. King Alexander the Great being
fired with a desire to know the natures of animals
and having delegated the pursuit of this study to
Aristotle as a man of supreme eminence in every
branch of science, orders were given to some thousands
of persons throughout the whole of Asia and Greece,
all those who made their living by hunting, fowling,
and fishing and those who were in charge of warrens,
herds, apiaries, fishponds and aviaries, to obey his in-
structions, so that he might not fail to be informed
about any creature born anywhere. His enquiries
addressed to those persons resulted in the composition
of his famous works on zoology, in nearly 50 volumes.
To my compendium of these, with the addition of
facts unknown to him, I request my readers to give
a favourable reception, while making a brief excur-
sion under our direction among the whole of the
works of Nature, the central interest of the most
glorious of all sovereigns. Aristotle then states
that a lioness at the first birth produces five cubs,
and each year one fewer, and after bearing a single
cub becomes barren; and that the cubs are mere
lumps of flesh and very small, at the beginning of the
size of weasels, and at six months are scarcely able
to walk, not moving at all until they are two months
old ; also that lions are found in Europe only between
the rivers Achelous 5 and Mestus,c but that these far
exceed in strength those produced by Africa and Syria.

XVIII. He states that there are two kinds of lions, varieties of
one thickset and short, with comparatively curly manes l
— these being more timid than the long, straight-

35

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

simplicique villo, eos contemptores vulnerum. uri-
nam mares crure sublato reddere ut canes, gravem
odorem, nee minus halitum. raros in potu, vesci 3
alternisdiebus,asaturitate interim triduo cibis carere ;
quae possint in mandendo solida devorare, nee
capiente aviditatem alvo coniectis in fauces unguibus
extrahere, ut3 si fugiendum sit, non in satietate2

47 abeant. vitam iis longam docet argumento
quodplerique dentibus defect! reperiantur. Polybius
Aemiliani comes in senecta hominem ab his adpeti
refert, quoniam ad persequendas feras vires non
suppetant; tune obsidere Africae urbes, eaque
de causa cruci fixos vidisse se cum Scipione, quia
ceteri metu poenae similis absterrerentur eadem
noxa.

48 XIX. Leoni tanlum ex feris dementia in supplices ;
prostratis parcit, et, ubi saevit, in viros potius quam
in feminas fremit, in infantes non nisi magna fame,
credit luba 3 pervenire intellectum ad eos precum :
in4 captivam certe Gaetuliae reducem audivit
multorum in silvis impetum esse 5 mitigatum adlo-
quio ausam dicere se feminam, profugam, infirmam,
supplicern animalis omnium generosissimi ceterisque
imperitantis, indignam eius gloria praedam. Varia
circa hoc opinio ex ingenio cuiusque vel casu, mulceri

1 v.L nee vesci : neo vesci <nisi> ? Rackham.

2 aut si fugiendiam in satietate codd. plurimi.
8 Pintianus (cf. § 56) : Libya.

* in add, Wdzhauer. 5 Mayhoff : a se.

36

BOOK VIII. xvin. 46-xix, 48

haired kind ; the latter despise wounds. The males
lift one leg in making water, like dogs. Their smell is
disagreeable, and not less their breath. They are
infrequent drinkers, and they feed every other
day, after a full meal occasionally abstaining from
food for three days; when chewing they swallow
whole what they can, and when their belly will not
contain the result of their gluttony, they insert their
clenched claws into their throats and drag it out, so
that if they have to run away they may not go in a
state of repletion. From the fact that many speci-
mens are found lacking teeth he infers that they
are long-lived. Aemilianus's companion Polybius
states that in old age their favourite prey is a human
being, because their strength is not adequate to
hunting wild animals; and that at this period of
their lives they beset the cities of Africa, and
consequently when he was with Scipio he saw lions
crucified, because the others might be deterred from
the same mischief by fear of the same penalty.

XIX. The lion alone of wild animals shows mercy Psychology
to suppliants; it spares persons prostrated in°fthelwn'
front of it, and when raging it turns its fury on
men rather than women, and only attacks chil-
dren when extremely hungry. Juba believes that
the meaning of entreaties gets through to them:
at all events he was informed that the onset of a
herd of lions in the forests upon a woman of Gaetulia
who was captured and got away again had been
checked by a speech in which she dared to say
that she was a female, a fugitive, a weakling, a
suppliant to the most generous of all the animals,
the lord of all the rest, a booty unworthy of his glory.
Opinion will vary in accordance with each person's

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

alloquiis feras, quippe ubi etiam serpentes extrahi
cantu cogique in poenam verum falsumne sit non

49 vita decreverit. leonum animi index cauda sicut
et equorum aures : namque et has notas generosissi-
mo cuique natura tribuit. inmota ergo placido. cle-
mens {motus)1 blandienti, quod rarum est, crebrior
enim iracundia, cuius in principio terra verberatur,
incremento terga ceu quodam incitamento flagellantur.
vis summa in pectore. ex omni vulnere sive ungue
inpresso sive dente ater profluit sanguis. idem

50 satiati innoxii sunt. generositas in periculis maxime
deprehenditur, non illo 2 tantum modo quod spernens
tela diu se terrore solo tuetur ac velut cogi testatur
cooriturque non tamquam periculo coactus sed
tamquam amentia iratus : ilia nobilior animi signifi-
catio — quamlibet magna canum et venantium urgu-
ente vi contemptim restitansque cedit in campis et
ubi spectari potest; idem ubi virgulta silvasque
penetravit acerrimo cursu fertur velut abscondente
turpitudinem loco, dum sequitur insilit saltu, quo

51 in fuga non utitur. vulneratus observatione mira
percussorem novit et in quantalibet multitudine ad-

1 MayTioff? 2 Mayhoff: in illo.

38

BOOK VIII. xix. 48-51

temperament, or with chance, as to this point — that
wild animals are placated by appeals addressed to
them, inasmuch as experience has not decided
whether it be true or false that even serpents can
be enticed out by song and forced to submit to
chastisement. Lions indicate their state of mind by
means of their tail, as horses do by their ears : for
Nature has assigned even these means of expression
to all the noblest animals. Consequently the lion's
tail is motionless when he is calm, and moves gently
when he wishes to cajole — which is seldom, since
anger is more usual ; at the onset of which the earth
is lashed, and as the anger grows, his back is lashed
as if for a mode of incitement. A lion's greatest
strength is in the chest. Black blood flows from
every wound, whether made by claw or tooth. Yet
when lions are glutted they are harmless. The lion's
nobility of spirit is detected most in dangers, not
merely in the way that despising weapons he protects
himself for a long time only by intimidation, and
protests as it were that he is acting under compulsion,
and rises to the encounter not as if forced by danger
but as though enraged by madness; but a nobler
indication of this spirit is this, that however large
a force of hounds and hunters besets him, in level
plains and where he can be seen he retires con-
temptuously and constantly halting, but when he
has made his way into brushwood and forest he
proceeds at top speed, as if aware that the lie of the
land conceals his disgrace. When pursuing he advances
by leaps and bounds, but he does not use this gait
when in flight. When he has been wounded he
marks down his assailant in a marvellous way, and
knows him and picks him out in however large a

39

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

petit, eum vero qui telum quidem miserit sed non vul-
neraverit correptum rotatumque sternit nee vulnerat.
cum pro catulis feta dimicat, oculorum aciem traditur

52 defigere in terram ne venabula expavescat. cetero
dolis carent et suspicione, nee limis intuentur oculis
aspicique simili modo nolunt. creditum est a mo-
riente humum morderi lacrimamque leto dari.
atque hoc tale tamque saevum animal rotarum
orbes circumacti currusque inanes et gallinaceorum
cristae cantusque etiam magis terrent, sed maxime
ignes. aegritudinem fastidii tantum sentit, in qua
medetur ei contumelia, in rabiem agent e adnexarum 1
lascivia simiarum ; gustatus deinde sanguis in remedio
est.

53 XX. Leonum simul plurium pugnarn Romae
princeps dedit Q. Scaevola P. f. in curuli aedilitate,
centum autem iubatorum primus omnium L. Sulla,
qui postea dictator fuit, in praetura; post eum
Pompeius Magnus in circo DC, in iis iubatorum
cccxv, Caesar dictator cccc.

54 XXL Capere eos ardui erat quondam operis,
foveisque maxime. principatu Claudii casus ratio-
nem docuit pudendam paene talis ferae nomine
pastorem2 Gaetuliae, sago contra ingruentis impetum
obiecto, quod spectaculum in harenam protinus

1 adversarum vel adnixarum edd.

2 Detlefsen : pastore «a>pastore Maylwff}.

a Consul 95 B.C. b 93 B.C.

' 49, 48, 46, 45 and 44 B.C.

40

BOOK VIII. xix. SJ-XXL 54

crowd, Yet a person who discharges a weapon at
him but fails to wound him he seizes and whirling
him round flings him on the ground, but does not
wound him. It is said that when a mother lion is
fighting in defence of her cubs she fixes the gaze of
her eyes upon the ground so as not to flinch from the
hunting spears. Otherwise lions are devoid of craft
and suspicion, and they do not look at you with eyes
askance and dislike being looked at in a similar way.
The belief has been held that a dying lion bites the
earth and bestows a tear upon death. Yet though
of such a nature and of such ferocity this animal is
frightened by wheels turning round and by empty
chariots, and even more by the crested combs and
the crowing of cocks, but most of all by fires. The
only malady to which it is liable is that of distaste
for food ; in this condition it can be cured by insult-
ing treatment, the pranks of monkeys tied to it
driving it to fury ; and then tasting their blood acts
as a remedy.

XX. A fight with several lions at once was first Lions m the
bestowed on Rome by Quintus Scaevola,a son of
Publius, when consular aedile, but the first of all who
exhibited a combat of 100 maned lions was Lucius

Sulla, later dictator, in his praetorship.6 After Sulla
Pompey the Great showed in the Circus 600, including
315 with manes, and Caesar when dictator c 4:00.

XXI. Capturing lions was once a difficult task, The capture
chiefly effected by means of pitfalls. In the principate

of Claudius accident taught a Gaetulian shepherd a
method that was almost one to be ashamed of in the
case of a wild animal of this nature : when it charged
he flung a cloak against its onset — a feat that was
immediately transferred to the arena as a show, — the

41

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

translation est, vix credibili modo torpescente tanta
ilia feritate quamvis levi iniectu operto capita, ita
ut devinciatur non repugnans. videlicet omnis vis
constat in oculis, quo minus mirum fit 1 a Lysimacho
Alexandri iussu simul incluso strangulatum leonem.

55 iugo subdidit eos primus que Romae ad currum
iunxit M. Antonius, et quidem civili bello cum
dimicatum esset in Pharsaliis campis, non sine
ostento quodam temporum,2 generosos spiritus
iugum subire illo prodigio significant e. nam quod
ita vectus est cum mima Cytheride, super monstra
etiam illarum calamitatum fuit. primus autem
hominum leonem manu tractare ausus et ostendere
mansuefactum Hanno e clarissimis Poenorum traditur
damnatusque illo argumento, quoniam nihil non
persuasurus vir tarn artificis ingenii videbatur, et
male credi libertas ei cui in tantum cessisset etiam
feritas.

56 Sunt vero et fortuitae 3 eorum quoque clementiae
exempla. Mentor Syracusanus in Syria leone
obvio suppliciter volutante attonitus pavore, cum
refugienti undique fera opponeret sese et vestigia
lamberet adulanti similis, animadvertit in pede eius
tumorem vulnusque; extracto surculo liberavit
cruciatu: pictura casum hunc testatur Syracusis.

1 v.l. sit.

2 Gelen : tempore (tempore <eo> ? Mayhoff}.
8 Mayhoff : fortuita.

a The defeat of Pompey by Caesar, 48 B.C.
42

BOOK VIII, xxi, 54-56

creature's great ferocity abating in an almost in-
credible manner when its head is covered with even
a light wrap, with the result that it is vanquished
without showing fight. The fact is that all its strength
is concentrated in its eyes, which makes it less
remarkable that when Lysimachus by order of
Alexander was shut up in a lion's cage he succeeded
in strangling it. Mark Antony broke lions to the
yoke and was the first person at Home to harness
them to a chariot, and this in fact during the civil
war, after the decisive battle a in the plains of Phar-
salia, not without some intention of exhibiting the
position of affairs, the portentous feat signifying that
generous spirits can bow to a yoke. For his riding
in this fashion with the actress Cytheris at his side
was a thing that outdid even the portentous occur-
rences of that disastrous period. It is recorded that
Hanno, one of the most distinguished of the Cartha-
ginians, was the first human being who dared to
handle a lion and exhibit it as tamed, and that this
supplied a reason for his impeachment, because it
was felt that a man of such an artful character
might persuade the public to anything, and that
their liberty was ill entrusted to one to whom even
ferocity had so completely submitted.

But there are also instances of occasional merciful-
ness even in lions. The Syracusan Mentor in Syria
met a lion that rolled on the ground in suppliant fffa^ude.
wise and struck such terror into him that he was
running away, when the lion stood in his way wherever
he turned, and licked his footsteps as if fawning
on him; he noticed a swelling and a wound in its
foot, and by pulling out a thorn set the creature
free from torment ; a picture at Syracuse is evidence

43

PLINY: NATUEAL HISTORY

57 Simili modo Elpis Samius natione in Africam delatus
nave iuxta litus conspecto leone hiatu minaci arbo-
rem fuga petit Libero patre invocato, quoniam turn
praecipuus votorum locus est cum spei nullus est.
neque profugienti, cum potuisset, fera institerat,
et procumbens ad arbor em hiatu quo terruerat
miserationem quaerebat. os morsu avidiore in-
haeserat dentibus cruciabatque media, non tantum l
poena in ipsis eius telis, suspectantem ac velut
mutis precibus orantem, dum2 fortuitis3 fides4

58 non est contra feram, multoque diutius miraculo
quam metu cessatur. set 5 degressus tandem evellit
praebenti et qua maxime opus esset adcommodanti ;
traduntque quamdiu navis ea in litore steterit re-
tulisse gratiam venatus adgerendo. qua de causa
Libero patri templum in Samo Elpis sacravit, quod
ab eo facto Graeci KC^VOTOS AiovuVov appellavere.
ne miremur postea vestigia hominum intellegi a
feris, cum etiam auxilia ab uno animalium sperent:
cur enim non ad alia iere, aut unde medicas manus
hominis sciunt ? nisi forte vis malorum etiam feras
omnia experiri cogit.

59 Aeque memorandum et de panthera tradit De-

1 Mayhoff : ntantum aut tantum.

2 dum — cessatur ? supra ante neque prof ugienti transponenda

8 Sillig : fortuita. 4 Mayhoff? : fidens,

5 Mayhoff ? : cessatum est.

0 Perhaps ' wMe chance . . . alarm ' should be moved up to
come before * The beast had not stood in his way.5

44

BOOK VIII. xxi. 57-59

of this occurrence. In a similar manner a native of
Samos named Elpis on landing from a ship in Africa,
saw near the coast a lion opening its jaws in a
threatening way, and took refuge up a tree, calling
on Father Liber for help, since the chief occasion
for praying is an emergency where there is no room
for hope. The beast had not stood in his way when
he tried to run away although it might have done,
and lying down by the tree began to beg for com-
passion with the gaping jaws by which it had scared
the man. Owing to its biting its food too greedily a
bone had stuck in its teeth, and was tormenting it
with starvation and not merely with the punishment
contained in the actual prickles, as it gazed up and
looked as if making a silent prayer for aid — while
chance events are not to be relied on in face of a
wild animal, and much longer hesitation is caused
by surprise than by alarm.a But finally he came
down and pulled out the bone for the lion, which
held out its foot to him and adjusted it at the most
necessary angle ; and they say that as long as that
vessel remained on the coast the lion displayed its
gratitude by bringing its catches to its benefactor.
This led Elpis to consecrate in Samos a temple to
Father Liber, to which from that occurrence the
Greeks have given the name of Temple of Dionysus
with his Mouth Open. After this do not let us be
surprised that men's tracks are recognized by wild
beasts when they actually hope for assistance from
one of the animal race : for why did they not go to
other animals, or how do they know of man's healing
touch ? Unless perchance violent maladies force even
wild animals to every expedient.
The natural philosopher Demetrius also records an

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

metrius physicus, iacentem in media via hominis
desiderio repente apparuisse patri cuiusdam Philini
adsectatoris sapientiae. ilium pavore coepisse re-
gredi, feram vero circumvolutari non dubie blan-
dientem seseque conflictantem maerore qui etiam
in panthera intellegi possit : feta erat catulis procul

60 in foveam delapsis. primum ergo miserationis fuit
non expavescere, proximum et curam intendere;
secutusque qua trahebat vestem unguium levi
iniectu, ut causam doloris intellexit simulque salutis
suae mercedem, exemit catulos, ea cum his prose-
quente usque extra solitudines deductus laeta atque
gestiente, ut facile appareret gratiam referre et
nihil in vicem inputare, quod etiam in homine rarum
est.

61 XXII. Haec fidem et Democrito adferunt qui
Thoantem in Arcadia servatum a dracone narrat.
nutrierat eum puer dilectum admodum, parensque
serpentis naturam et magnitudmem metuens in
solitudines tulerat, in quibus circumvento latronum
insidiis agnitoque voce subvenit. nam quae de
infantibus ferarum lacte nutritis cum essent expositi
produntur, sicut de conditoribus nostris a lupa,
magnitudini fatorum accepta referri x aequius quam
ferarum naturae arbitror.

1 Rackham : ferri aut fieri.

BOOK VIII. XXL 59-xxn. 61

equally remarkable story about a panther, which out
of desire for human aid lay in the middle of a road,
where the father of a certain student of philosophy
named Philinus suddenly came in sight of it. The
man, so the story goes, began to retreat, but the
animal rolled over on its back, obviously trying to
cajole him, and tormented by sorrow that was intel-
ligible even in a panther : she had a litter of cubs
that had fallen into a pit some distance away. The
first result of his compassion therefore was not to be
frightened, and the next to give her his attention ;
and he followed where she drew him by lightly
touching his clothes with her claws, and when he
understood the cause of her grief and at the same
time the recompense due for his own security, he
got the cubs out of the pit ; and the panther with her
young escorted him right to the edge of the desert,
guiding him with gestures of delight that made it
quite clear that she was expressing gratitude and
not reckoning on any recompense, which is rare even
in a human being.

XXII. These stories give credibility to Demo-
critus also, who tells a tale of Thoas in Arcadia
being saved by a snake. When a boy he had fed it
and made a great pet of it, and his parent being
afraid of the snake's nature and size had taken it
away into an uninhabited region, where it recognized
Thoas 's voice and came to his rescue when he was
entrapped by an ambush of brigands. For as to the
reports about infants when they had been exposed
being fed by the milk of wild animals, as well as
those about our founders being nursed by a she-wolf,
I deem it more reasonable for them to be credited to
the grandeur of their destinies than to the nature
of the wild animals.

47

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

62 XXI II. Panther a et tigris macularum varietate
prope solae bestiarum spectantur, ceteris unus ac
suus cuique generi color est, leonum tantum in
Syria niger. pantheris in candido breves macularum
oculi. ferunt odore earum mire sollicitari quadri-
pedes cunctas, sed capitis torvitate terreri; quamo-
brem occultato eo reliqua dulcedine invitatas corri-
piunt. sunt qui tradant in armo iis similem lunae
esse maculam crescentem in orbem seque 1 cavan-

63 tern 2 pari modo 3 nunc varias, et pardos qui
mares sunt, appellant in eo omni genere, creberrimo
in Africa Syriaque ; quidam ab his pantheras candore
solo discermmt, nee adhuc aliam differentiam inveni.

64 XXIV. Senatus consultum fuit vetus ne liceret
Africanas in Italiam advehere. contra hoc tulit ad
populum Cn. Aufidius tribunus plebis, permisitque
circensium gratia inportare. primus autem Scaurus
in 4 aedilitate sua varias CL universas misit, dein
Pompeius Magnus ccccx, divus Augustus ccccxx.

65 XXV. idem Q. Tuberone Paullo Fabio Maxumo
coss. mi. non. Mai. theatri Marcelli dedications
tigrim primus omnium Romae ostendit in cavea
mansuefactam, divus vero Claudius simul mi.

1 Mayhoff : orbem et. 2 curvantem DetUfsen.

8 v.l. modo cornua. 4 in add. Probeen.

0 I.e. in the shape of a crescent moon, bounded by a convex
and a concave curve.

6 114 B.C. c 58 B.C. * 11 B,c.

BOOK VIII. xxm. 62-xxv, 65

XXIII. The panther and the tiger almost alone of ?he pcmauir.
beasts are distinguished by a variety of markings,
whereas the rest have a single colour, each kind having

its own — black in the case of lions in Syria only.
Panthers have small spots like eyes on a light
ground. It is said that all four-footed animals are
wonderfully attracted by their smell, but frightened
by the savage appearance of their head ; for which
reason they catch them by hiding their head and
enticing them to approach by their other attractions.
Some authorities report that they have a mark on
the shoulder resembling a moon, expanding into a
circle and hollowed out in a similar manner.a As it is,
people use the name ' spotted ladies ', and for the
males * pards ', in the whole of this genus, which
occurs most frequently in Africa and Syria; some
persons distinguish panthers from these by their
light colour only, nor have I hitherto discovered any
other difference.

XXIV. There was an old Resolution of the Senate importation
prohibiting the importation of African elephants into

Italy. Gnaeus Aufidius when Tribune of the Plebs b «AOM*.
carried in the Assembly of the People a resolution
repealing this and allowing them to be imported for
shows in the Circus. But Scaurus in his aedileship'
first sent in procession 150 female leopards in one
flock, then Pompey the Great 410, and the late
lamented Augustus 420. XXV. Augustus also, in
the consulship^ of Marcus Tubero and Paullus
Fabius, at the dedication of the Theatre of
Marcellus, on May 7, was the first of all persons at
Rome who exhibited a tamed tiger in a cage, although
his late Majesty Claudius exhibited four at one
time.

i0854.'P 49-

VOL. III. E

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

66 Tigrim Hyrcani et Indi ferunt, animal velocitatis
tremendae, et maxime cognitae dum capitur totus
eius fetus , qui semper numerosus est. ab insidiante
rapitur equo quam maxime pernici, atque in recentes
subinde transfertur. at ubi vacuum cubile reperit
feta (maribus enim subolis cura non est) fertur
praeceps odore vestigans. raptor adpropinquante
fremitu abicit unum ex catulis. tollit ilia morsu et
pondere etiam ocior acta remeat iterumque conse-
quitur, ac subinde donee in navem regresso inrita
feritas saevit in lit ore.

67 XXVI. Camelos inter armenta pascit oriens,
quarum duo genera, Bactriae et Arabiae, diiFerunt,
quod illae bina habent tubera in dorso, hae singula et
sub pectore alterum cui incumbant : dentium superi-
ore ordine ut boves carent in utroque genere. omnes
autem iumentorum ministeriis dorso funguntur atque
etiam equitatus in proeliis ; velocitas infra equos.1

68 sed cuique mensura sicuti vires ; nee ultra adsuetum
procedit spatium, nee plus instituto onere recipit.
odium adversus equos gerunt naturale. sitim et
quadriduo tolerant, implenturque cum bibendi
occasio est et in praeteritum et in futurum, obturbata
proculcatione prius aqua: aliter potu non gaudent.
vivunt quinquagenis annis, quaedam et centenis;

1 Detlefsen : inter equos (ut equos Mayhoff).
50

BOOK VIII. xxv. 66-xxvi. 68

Hyrcania and India produce the tiger, an animal Tiger
of terrific speed, which is most noticeable when the hunUn^
whole of its litter, which is always numerous, is
being captured. The litter is taken by a man lying
in wait with the swiftest horse obtainable, and is
transferred successively to fresh horses. But when
the mother tiger finds the lair empty (for the males
do not look after their young) she rushes off at head-
long speed, tracking them by scent. The captor
when her roar approaches throws away one of the
cubs. She snatches it up in her mouth, and returns
and resumes the pursuit at even a faster pace owing
to her burden, and so on in succession until the hunter
has regained the ship and her ferocity rages vainly
on the shore.

XXVI. The East pastures camels among its flocks The camel
of cattle ; of these there are two kinds, the Bactrian frvmedanj.
and the Arabian, which differ in that the former have
two humps on the back and the latter one, with a
second hump beneath the chest on which they can
rest their weight; but both kinds resemble oxen
in having no teeth in the upper jaw. All however
perform the services of beasts of burden, and also of
cavalry in battles; their speed is below that of
horses. But the two kinds differ in dimensions, as
also in strength ; and a camel will not travel beyond
its customary march, nor carry more than the regula-
tion load. They possess an innate hatred for horses.
They can endure thirst for as much as four days, and
when they have an opportunity they replenish them-
selves both for the past interval and for the future,
stirring up the water by trampling with their fore
feet before they drink — otherwise they do not enjoy
the draught. They live for fifty years, some even

5*

E2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

utcumque rabiem ct ipsae sentiunt. castrandi genus
etiam feminas quae bello praeparantui* inventum est :
fortiores ita fiunt coitu negate.

69 XXVII. Harum aliqua similitude in duo transfer-
tur animalia. nabun Aethiopes vocant collo siniilem
equo, pedibus et cruribus bovi, camelo capite, albis
maculis, rutilum colorem distinguentibus, unde
appellata camelopardalis, dictatoris Caesaris circensi-
bus ludis primum visa Romae. ex eo subinde
cernitur aspectu magis quam feritate conspicua, quare
etiam ovis ferae nomen invenit.

70 XXVIII. Pompei Magni primum ludi ostenderunt
chama, quem Galli rufium vocabant, effigie lupi,
pardorum maculis, iidem ex Aethiopia quas vocant
cephoSj1 quarum pedes posteriores pedibus humanis
et cruribus, prior es manibus fuere similes, hoc
animal postea Roma non vidit.

71 XXIX. Isdem ludis et rhinoceros unius in nare
cornus, qualis saepe visus. alter hie genitus hostis
elephanto cornu ad saxa limato praeparat se pugnae,
in dimicatione alvum maxime petens, quam scit
esse molliorem. longitudo ei par, crura multo
breviora, color buxeus.

72 XXX. Lyncas vulgo frequentes et sphingas fusco
pilo, mammis in pectore geminis, Aethiopia generat,
multaque alia monstris similia, pinnatos equos et
cornibus armatos quos pegasos vocant, crocotas

1 Krjrrovs Hardouin e Diodoro.

a The giraffe.

b 55 B.C.

c Possibly baboons.

d The Indian species. The African has two horns.

6 Unidentified.

52

BOOK VIII. xxvi. 68-xxx. 72

for a hundred; although even camels are liable to
rabies. A method has been discovered of gelding
even the females intended for war ; this by denying
them intercourse increases their strength.

XXVII. Some resemblance to these is passed on to ne giraffe.
two animals. The Ethiopians give the name of

nabun to one that has a neck like a horse, feet and
legs like an ox, and a head like a camel, and is of a
ruddy colour picked out with white spots, owing to
which it is called a cameloparda; it was first seen at
Rome at the games in the Circus given by Caesar
when dictator. From this it has subsequently been
recognized to be more remarkable for appearance
than for ferocity, and consequently it has also got
the name of wild sheep.'

XXVIII. The games6 of Pompey the Great first TUiynx.
displayed the chama, which the Gauls used to call

the lynx, with the shape of a wolf and leopard's
spots; the same show exhibited what they call
cephic from Ethiopia, which have hind feet resembling
the feet of a man and legs and fore feet like hands.
Rome has not seen this animal subsequently.

XXIX. At the same games there was also a rhino- The
ceros with one horn * on the nose such as has often been r7imoce™
seen. Another bred here to fight matches with an
elephant gets ready for battle by filing its horns on
rocks, and in the encounter goes specially for the
belly, which it knows to be softer. It equals an
elephant in length, but its legs are much shorter,

and it is the colour of box-wood.

XXX. Ethiopia produces lynxes in great numbers, Fauna of
and sphinxes e with brown hair and a pair of udders

on the breast, and many other monstrosities—winged
horses armed with horns, called pegasi, hyenas like a

53

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

velut ex cane lupoque conceptos, omnia dentibus
frangentes protinusque devorata confidantes ventre,
cercopithecos nigris capitibus, pilo asini et dissimiles
ceteris voce; Indices boves unicornes tricornesque,
leucrocotam pernicissimam feram asini fere magni-
tudine, clunibus cervinis, collo, cauda, pectore leonis,
capite melium, bisulca ungula, ore ad aures usque

73 rescisso, dentium locis osse perpetuo — hanc feram
humanas voces tradunt imitari. apud eosdem et
quae vocatur eale, magnitudine equi fluviatilis,
cauda elephanti, colore nigra vel fulva, maxillis apri,
maiora cubitalibus cornua habens mobilia quae
alterna in pugna se 1 sistunt varieque 2 infesta aut

7-1 obliqua, utcumque ratio monstravit. sed atrocissi-
mos habet 3 tauros silvestres maiores agrestibus,
velocitate ante omnis, colore falvos, oculis caeruleis,
pilo in contrarium verso, rictu ad aures dehiscente,
iuxta cornua mobilia; tergori duritia silicis omne
I'espuens vulnus. feras omnis venantur, ipsi non
aliter quam foveis capti feritate semper intereunt.

75 apud eosdem 4 nasci Ctesias scribit quam manticho-
ran appellat, triplici dentium ordine pectinatim
coeuntium, facie et auriculis hominis, oculis glaucis,
colore sanguineo, corpore leonis, cauda scorpionis
modo spicula infigentem, vocis ut si misceatur fistulae

1 se ? add. MayTioff.

2 Sillig : variaque aut variatque.

3 habet add. edd.

* apud Indos dein ? Mayhoff.

a The rhinoceros again. b Another sort of hyena.

0 This mythical animal is used in heraldry, e.g. as the
supporters of the shield of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother
of King Henry VII.

d Or possibly * with horns equally mobile as the yale's '.

54

BOOK VIII. xxx. 72-75

cross between a dog and a wolf, that break every-
thing with their teeth, swallow it at a gulp and
masticate it in the belly ; tailed monkeys with black
heads, ass's hair and a voice unlike that of any other
species of ape ; Indian oxen a with one and with three
horns ; the leucrocotaf swiftest of wild beasts, about
the size of an ass, with a stag's haunches, a lion's
neck, tail and breast, badger's head, cloven hoof,
mouth opening right back to the ears, and ridges of
bone in place of rows of teeth — this animal is
reported to imitate the voices of human beings.
Among the same people is also found the animal
called the yale,c the size of a hippopotamus, with an
elephant's tail, of a black or tawny colour, with the
jaws of a boar and movable horns more than a cubit
in length which in a fight are erected alternately,
and presented to the attack or sloped backward in
turn as policy directs. But its fiercest animals are
forest bulls, larger than the bulls of the field, sur-
passing all in speed, of a tawny colour, with blue
eyes, hair turned backward, mouth gaping open to
the ears, along with mobile horns d ; the hide has the
hardness of flint, rejecting every wound. They
hunt all wild animals, but themselves can only be
caught in pits, and when caught always die game.
Ctesias writes that in the same country * is born the
creature that he calls the mantickora/ which has a
triple row of teeth meeting like the teeth of a comb,
the face and ears of a human being, grey eyes, a
blood-red colour, a lion's body, inflicting stings with
its tail in the manner of a scorpion, with a voice like

e Perhaps the text should be altered to give * next in the
Indians' country,'
* Fabulous,

55

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

et tubae concentus, velocitatis magnae, humani

76 corporis vel praecipue adpetentem. XXXI. in India
et boves solidis ungulis unicornes, et feram nomine
axin hinnuleipelle,pluribus candidioribusque maculis,
sacrorum 1 Liberi patris (Orsaei Indi simias candentes
toto corpore venantur), asperrimam autem feram
monocerotem, reliquo corpore equo similem, capite
cervo, pedibus elephanto, cauda apro, mugitu gravi,
uno cornu nigro media fronte cubitorum duum
eminente. hanc feram vivam negant capi,

77 XXXII. Apud Hesperios Aethiopas fons est Nigris,
ut plerique existimavere, Nili caput,, ut argumenta
quae diximus persuadent. iuxta hunc fera appella-
tur catoblepas, modica alioqui ceterisque membris
iners, caput tantum praegrave aegre ferens, id 2
deiectum semper in terram, alias internicio humani
generis, omnibus qui oculos eius videre confestim
expirantibus.

78 XXXIII. Eadem et basilisci serpentis est vis.
Cyrenaica hunc generat provincia, duodecim non
amplius digitorum magnitudine, Candida in capite
macula ut quodam diademate insignem. sibilo
omnis fugat serpentes, nee flexu multiplici ut reliquae
corpus inpellit sed celsus et erectus in medio incedens.

1 sacram edd.

2 ideo ? Mayhoff.

a Again an echo of the rhinoceros, confused with the ante-
lope; and the same hybrid in a more lurid shape recurs below
in the unicorn.

* Possibly a spotted deer of India.

0 Mayhoff notes that this sentence looks as if wrongly
inserted here.

* N.W. Africa (nowhere near the Nile).

* ' The downwarcl-lQQker,' perhaps the gnu,

56

BOOK VIII. xxx. 75-xxxm. 78

the sound of a pan-pipe blended with a trumpet, of
great speed, with a special appetite for human
flesh. XXXI. He says that in India there are also Fauna of
oxen with solid hoofs and one horn,a and a wild animal India-
named axis,13 with the hide of a fawn but with more
spots and whiter ones, belonging to the ritual of
Father Liber (the Orsaean Indians hunt monkeys
that are a bright white all over the body) c ; but that
the fiercest animal is the unicorn, which in the rest
of the body resembles a horse, but in the head a
stag, in the feet an elephant, and in the tail a boar,
and has a deep bellow, and a single black horn three
feet long projecting from the middle of the forehead.
They say that it is impossible to capture this animal
alive.

XXXII. In Western Ethiopia'2 there is a spring, iaum of
the Nigris, which most people have supposed to be ^c*a
the source of the Nile, as they try to prove by the
arguments that we have stated. In its neighbour-
hood there is an animal called the catoblepas,6 in other
respects of moderate size and inactive with the rest

of its limbs, only with a very heavy head which it
carries with difficulty — it is always hanging down to
the ground ; otherwise it is deadly to the human race,
as all who see its eyes expire immediately.

XXXIII. The basilisk/ serpent also has the same ne
power. It is a native of the province of Cyrenaica, basihsk-
not more than 12 inches long, and adorned with

a bright white marking on the head like a sort of
diadem. It routs all snakes with its hiss, and does
not move its body forward in manifold coils like the
other snakes but advancing with its middle raised
high, It kills bushes not only by its touch but also

An imaginary monster.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

necat frutices non contactos modo verum et adflatos,
exurit herbas, rumpit saxa. aliis * vis malo est :
creditur quondam ex equo occisum hasta et per earn
subeunte vi non equitem modo sed equum quoque

79 absumptum. atqui 2 huic tali monstro — saepe enim
enectum concupivere reges videre — mustellarum
virus exitio est : adeo naturae nihil placuit esse sine
pare, iniciunt 3 hos 4 cavernis facile cognitis soli tabe ;
necant illae simul odore moriunturque, et naturae
pugna conficitur.

80 XXXIV. Sed in Italia quoque creditur luporum
visus esse noxius, vocemque homini quern priores
contemplentur adimere ad praesens. inertes hos
parvosque Africa et Aegytus gignunt, asperos
trucesque frigidior plaga. homines in. lupos vertl
rursusque restitui sibi falsum esse confldenter existi-
mare debemus aut credere omnia quae fabulosa tot
saeculis conperimus; unde tamen ista volgo infixa
sit fama intantum ut in maledictis versipelles habeat

81 indicabitur. Euanthes inter auctores Graeciae non
spretus scribit Arcadas tradere 5 ex gente Anthi
cuiusdam sorte familiae lectum ad stagnum quod-
dam regionis eius duci vestituque in quercu suspense
tranare atque abire in deserta transfigurarique in
lupum et cum ceteris eiusdem generis congregari per

1 v.l. talis.

2 Rackham: atque.

3 Gelen (cf. 35. 169) : interficiunt (inferciunt Sol).
* SackJiam : has aut eos.

5 Mayhoff : tradit Arcadas scribere.

0 Imaginary.

58

BOOK VIIL xxxin. 78-xxxiv. 81

by its breath, scorches up grass and bursts rocks.
Its effect on other animals is disastrous : it is believed
that once one was killed with a spear by a man on
horseback and the infection rising through the spear
killed not only the rider but also the horse. Yet to
a creature so marvellous as this — indeed kings have
often wished to see a specimen when safely dead —
the venom of weasels is fatal : so fixed is the decree
of nature that nothing shall be without its match.
They throw the basilisks into weasels' holes, which are
easily known by the foulness of the ground, and the
weasels kill them by their stench and die themselves
at the same time, and nature's battle is accomplished.
XXXIV. But in Italy also it is believed that the :
sight of wolves is harmful, and that if they look at a ^/-T^
man before he sees them, it temporarily deprives lywt.
him of utterance. The wolves produced in Africa
and Egypt are feeble and small, but those of colder
regions are cruel and fierce. We are bound to
pronounce with confidence that the story of men
being turned into wolves and restored to themselves
again is false—or else we must believe all the tales
that the experience of so many centuries has taught
us to be fabulous ; nevertheless we will indicate the
origin of the popular belief, which is so firmly rooted
that it classes werewolves a among persons under a
curse. Evanthes, who holds no contemptible position
among the authors of Greece, writes that the Ar-
cadians have1 a tradition that someone chosen out of
the clan of a certain Anthus by casting lots among
the family is taken to a certain marsh in that region,
and hanging his clothes on an oak-tree swims across
the water and goes away into a desolate place and is
transformed into a wolf and herds with the others

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

annos ix; quo in tempore si homine se abstinuerit,
reverti ad idem stagnum et, cum tranaverit, effigiem
recipere, ad pristinum habitum addito novem annorum
senio, addit 1 quoque fabulosius 2 eandem reciperare

82 vestem ! mirum est quo procedat Graeca cre-
dulitas : nullum tam inpudens mendacium est ut
teste careat. item Apollas 3 qui Olympionicas
scripsit narrat Demaenetum Parrhasium in sacrificio
quod Arcades lovi Lycaeo humana etiamtum hostia
faciebant, immolati pueri exta degustasse et in lu-
pum se convertisse, eundem x anno restitution ath-
letice se exercuisse in pugilatu victoremque Olympia

83 reversum. quin et caudae huius animalis creditur
vulgo inesse amatorium virus exiguo in villo eumque
cum capiatur abici nee idem pollere nisi viventi
direptum ; dies quibus coeat toto anno non amplius
duodecim ; eundem in fame vesci terra inter auguria :
ad dexteram commeantium praeciso itinere si pleno

84 id ore fecerit, nullum omnium ominum 4 praestantius.
sunt in eo genere qui cervarii vocantur, qualem e
Gallia in Pompei Magni harena spectatum diximus.
huic quamvis in fame mandenti, si respexerit,
oblivionem cibi subrepere aiunt digressumque
quaerere aliud.

1 Edd, : id. 2 Pellicerius : Pabius.

3 Kalkmann : Acopsia (Soopas Jan}.

4 Rctckham : jiullunx Jjomiiiiuii (n. ominum. ant oimtiiuiix aut
omnino edd.).

0 The lynx. b See § 70.

BOOK VIII. xxxiv. 81-84

of the same kind for nine years ; and that if in that
period he has refrained from touching a human
being, he returns to the same marsh, swims across
it and recovers his shape, with nine years' age added
to his former appearance; Evanthes also adds the
more fabulous detail that he gets back the same
clothes ! It is astounding to what lengths Greek
credulity will go ; there is no lie so shameless as to
lack a supporter. Similarly Apollas the author of
Olympic Victors relates that at the sacrifice which
even at that date the Arcadians used to perform in
honour of Lycaean Jove with a human victim,
Daemenetus of Parrhasia tasted the vitals of a boy
who had been offered as a victim and turned himself
into a wolf, and furthermore that he was restored ten
years later and trained himself in athletics for boxing
and returned a winner from Olympia. Moreover it
is popularly believed that even the tail of this animal
contains a love-poison in a small tuft of hair, and when
it is caught it sheds the tuft, which has not the same
potency unless plucked from the animal while it is
alive; that the days on which it breeds are not
more than twelve in a whole year; also that for it
to feed on earth when it is hungry counts as an
augury : if it does this in large mouthfuls when
barring the path of travellers who come upon it on
their right hand side, this is the finest of all omens.
Some members of the genus are called stag-wolves a ;
a specimen from Gaul was seen in the arena of
Pompey the Great, as we have stated.& They
say that if this animal while devouring its food
looks behind it, however hungry it is, forgetfulness
of what it is eating creeps over it and it goes off to
look for something else.

Si

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

85 XXXV. Quod ad serpentis attinct, vulgaturn est
colorem eius plerasque terrae habere in qua occul-
tentur ; innumera esse genera ; cerastis corpora
eminere cornicula saepe quadrigemina, quorum
motu reliquo corpore occulto sollicitent ad se aves ;
geminum caput amphisbaenae, hoc est et a cauda,
tamquam parum esset uno ore fundi venenum ; aliis
squamas esse, aliis picturas, omnibus exitiale virus ;
iaculum ex arborum ramis vibrari, nee pedibus tan-
tum pavendas serpentes sed ut missile x volare tor-
mento ; colla aspidum intumescere nullo ictus re-
medio praeterquam si confestim partes contactae

86 amputentur. unus huic tarn pestifero animali
sensus vel potius affectus est : coniugia ferme vagan-
tur, nee nisi cum pari vita est. itaque alterutra in-
terempta incredibilis ultionis alteri cura: perse-
quitur interfectorem unumque eum in quantolibet
populi agmine notitia quadam infest at, perrumpit
omnes difficultates, permeat spatia omnia,2 nee nisi
amnibus arcetur aut praeceleri fuga.

87 Non est fateri rerum natura largius mala an reme-
dia genuerit. iam primum hebetes oculos huic malo
dedit, eosque non in fronte ut ex adverse cerneret,3
sed in temporibus, — itaque excitatur celerius 4
auditu quam visu, — deinde internecivum bellum

1 Mayhoff : et missili.

2 omnia add. ? Mayhoff.

3 v.L aut adversa cernere et alia.

4 Mayhoff: saepius.

0 HytMcal; but the name is now used of an American
snake.
b The name is now given to the mongoose.

62

BOOK VIII. xxxv. 85-87

XXXV. As concerning serpents, it is generally The snake.
stated that most of them have the colour of the earth
that they usually lurk in ; that there are innumerable
kinds of them ; that horned snakes have little horns,
often a cluster of four, projecting from the body, by
moving which so as to hide the rest of the body they
lure birds to them ; that the amphisbaena a has a twin
head, that is one at the tail-end as well, as though
it were not enough for poison to be poured out of one
mouth; that some have scales, others coloured
markings, and all a deadly venom; that the javelin-
snake hurls itself from the branches of trees, and
that serpents are not only formidable to the feet but
fly like a missile from a catapult ; that when asps'
necks swell up there is no remedy for their sting
except the immediate amputation of the parts
stung. Although so pestilential, this animal has one
emotion or rather affection: they usually roam in
couples, male and female, and only live with their
consort. Accordingly when either of the pair has
been destroyed the other is incredibly anxious for
revenge: it pursues the murderer and by means
of some mark of recognition attacks him and him
only in however large a throng of people, bursting
through all obstacles and traversing all distances, and
it is only debarred by rivers or by very rapid flight.

It is impossible to declare whether Nature has
engendered evils or remedies more bountifully. In
the first place she has bestowed on this accursed
creature dim eyes, and those not in the forehead for
it to look straight in front of it, but in the temples
— and consequently it is more quickly excited by
hearing than by sight ; and in the next place she has
given it war to the death with the ichneumon6.

63

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

88 cum ichneumone. XXXVI. notum est animal hac
gloria maxime in eadem natum Aegypto. mergit se
limo saepius siccatque sole, mox ubi pluribus eodem
modo se coriis loricavit, in dimicationem pergit.
in ea caudam attollens ictus inritos aversus excipit,
donee obliquo capite speculatus invadat in fauces,
nee hoc contentus aliud baud mitius debellat animal.

89 XXXVII, Crocodilum habet Nilus, quadripes ma-
lum et terra pariter ac flumine infestum. unum hoc
animal terrestre linguae usu caret, unum superiore
mobili maxilla inprimit morsum, alias terribile
pectinatim stipante se dentium serie. magnitudme
excedit plerumque duodeviginti cubita. parit ova
quanta anseres, eaque extra eum locum semper
incubat praedivinatione quadam ad quern summo
auctu eo anno egressurus est Nilus. nee aliud
animal ex minore origine in maiorem crescit magnitu-
dinem; et unguibus autem armatus est, contra
omnes ictus cute invicta. dies in terra agit, noctes

90 in aqua, teporis utrumque ratione. hunc saturum
cibo piscium et semper esculento ore in litore
somno datum parva avis, quae trochilos ibi vocatur,
rex avium in Italia, invitat ad hiandum pabuli sui
gratia, os primum eius adsultim repurgans, mox
dentes et intus fauces quoque ad hanc scabendi

a Probably the Huvianus Aegyptius. The story is a fable.

64

BOOK VIIL xxxvi, 87-xxxvn. 90
XXXVI. That animal, which is also a native of TJt*MlimMt

T» • • -i-i -i T ft i icnn&wnon.

Ji-gypt, is specially known because of this exploit.
The asp repeatedly plunges into mud and dries itself
in the sun, and then when it has equipped itself with
a cuirass of several coatings by the same method, it
proceeds to the encounter. In this it raises its tail
and renders the blows it receives ineffectual by
turning away from them, till after watching for its
opportunity, with head held sideways it attacks its
adversary's throat. And not content with this
victim it vanquishes another animal no less ferocious,
the crocodile.

XXXVII. This belongs to the Nile ; it is a curse The
on four legs, and equally pernicious on land and in crocodlle'
the river. It is the only land animal not furnished
with a tongue and the only one that bites by press-
ing down the mobile upper jaw, and it is also
formidable because of its row of teeth set close
together like a comb. In size it usually exceeds
18 ells. It lays as many eggs as a goose, and by a
kind of prophetic instinct incubates them always
outside the line to which the Nile in that year is
going to rise at full flood. Nor does any other animal
grow to greater dimensions from a smaller original
size; however, it is armed with talons as well,
and its hide is invincible against all blows. It passes
its days on land and its nights in the water, in both
cases for reasons of warmth. This creature when
sated with a meal of fish and sunk in sleep on the
shore with its mouth always full of food, is tempted
by a small bird (called there the trochilus,a but in
Italy the king-bird) to open its mouth wide to enable
the bird to feed ; and first it hops in and cleans out
the mouth, and then the teeth and inner throat also,

6s

VOL. III. F

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dulcedinem quam maxime hiantes, in qua voluptate
somno pressum conspicatus ichneumon per easdem
fauces ut telum aliquod inmissus erodit alvom.

91 XXXVIIL Similis crocodile, sed minor etiam
ichneumone, est in Nilo natus scincos, contra venena
praecipuus antidotis, item ad inflammandam virorum
venerem.

Verum in crocodilo maior erat pestis quam ut uno
esset eius hoste natura contenta. itaque et delphini
inmeantes Nilo, quorum dorso tamquam ad hunc
usum cultellata inest pinna, abjgentes eos praeda ac
velut in suo tantum amne regnantes, alioquin inpares
viribus ipsi astu interimunt. callent enim in hoc cuncta
animaliaj sciuntque non sua modo commoda verum et
hostium adversa, norunt sua tela, norunt occasiones
partesque dissidentium inbellis. in ventre mollis
est tenuisque cutis crocodilo; ideo se ut territi
mergunt delphini subeuntesque alvum ilia secant

92 spina. quin et gens hominum est huic beluae
adversa in ipso Nilo a Tentyri insula in qua habi-
tat appellata. mensura eorum parva, sed praesentia
animi in hoc tantum usu mira. terribilis haec contra

93 fugaces belua est, fugax contra sequentes.1 sed
adversum ire soli hi audent, qui et flumini innatant,

1 Dalecampius : serpentes (resistentes Solinus}.

a The name is now given to a very small South European
lizard; but Pliny probably refers to some large species of
lizard,

b 8c. Tentyritae. c Now Denderah.

66

BOOK VIII. xxxvu. 90-xxxvra. 93

which yawns open as wide as possible for the pleasure
of this scratching ; and the ichneumon watches for
it to be overcome by sleep in the middle of this
gratification and darts like a javelin through the
throat so opened and gnaws out the belly.

XXXVIII. A native of the Nile resembling the
crocodile but smaller even than the ichneumon is the
skink,fl which is an outstanding antidote against
poisons, and also an aphrodisiac for males.

But the crocodile constituted too great a plague Enemies of
for Nature to be content with a single enemy for it. nl'ddphin''
Accordingly dolphins also, which have on their backs a£^heus
a sharp fin shaped like a knife as if for this purpose, islanders.
enter the mouth of the Nile, and when the crocodiles
drive them away from their prey and lord it in the
river as merely their own domain, kill them by craft,
as they are otherwise in themselves no match for
them in strength. For all animals are skilful in this,
and know not only the things advantageous for them-
selves but also those detrimental for their enemies,
and are acquainted with their own weapons and
recognize their opportunities and the unwarlike parts
of their adversaries. The crocodile's hide is soft and
thin over the belly ; consequently the dolphins pre-
tending to be frightened dive and going under them
rip the belly with the spine described. Moreover
there is also a tribe of human beings right on the Nile,
named & after the Island of Tentyrusc on which it
dwells, that is hostile to this monster. They are of
small stature but have a readiness of mind in this
employment only that is remarkable. The creature
in question is terrible against those who run away but
runs away from those who pursue it. But these men
alone dare to go against them; they actually dive

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dorsoque equitantium modo inpositi hiantibus resu-
pino capite ad morsum addita in os clava, dextra
ac laeva tenentes extrema eius utrimque, ut frenis
in terram agunt captives, ac voce etiam sola territos
cogunt evomere recentia corpora ad sepulturam*
itaque uni ei insulae crocodili non adnatant, olfactu-
que eius generis hominum, ut Psyllorum serpent es,

94 fugantur. hebetes oculos hoc animal dicitur habere
in aqua, extra acerrimi visus, quattuorque menses
hiemis semper inedia transmittere in specu. quidam
hoc unum quamdiu vivat crescere arbitrantur ; vivit
autem longo tempore.

95 XXXIX. Maior altitudine in eodem Nilo belua
hippopotamus editur, ungulis binis quales bubus,
dorso equi et iuba et hinnitu, rostro resimo, cauda et
dentibus aprorum aduncis sed minus noxiis, tergoris
ad scuta galeasque inpenetrabilis, praeterquam si
umore madeant. depascitur segetes destinatione
ante, ut ferunt, determinatas in diem et ex agro
ferentibus vestigiis, ne quae revert enti insidiae
comparentur.

96 XL. Primus eum et quinque crocodiles Romae
aedilitatis suae ludis M. Scaurus temporario euripo
ostendit. hippopotamus in quadam medendi parte
etiam magister existit; adsidua namque satietate

<* See VII § 14.

* Apparently by entering the field walking backward.

e 58 B.C.

68

BOOK VIII. xxxvin. 93-xL. 96

into the river and mounting on their back as if riding
a horse, when they yawn with the head thrown back-
ward to bite, insert a staff into the mouth, and holding
the staff at both ends with their right and left hands,
drive their prisoners to the land as if with bridles,
and by terrifying them even merely with their shouts
compel them to disgorge the recently swallowed bodies
for burial. Consequently this island only is not visited
by crocodiles, and the scent of this race of men
drives them away, as that of the Psylli a does snakes.
This animal is said to have dim sight in the water,
but to be very keen-sighted when out of it ; and to
pass four months of the winter in a cave continuously
without food. Some persons think that this alone
of animals goes on growing in size as long as it lives ;
but it lives a long time.

XXXIX. A monster of still greater height is also The hippo-
produced in the Nile, the hippopotamus, which has P°tamus:
cloven hoofs like those of oxen, a horse's back, mane
and neigh, a snub snout, a boar's tail and curved
tusks, though these are less formidable, and with a
hide that supplies an impenetrable material for
shields and helmets, except if they are soaked in
moisture. It feeds on the crops, marking out a
definite portion beforehand for each day, so it is said,
and making its footprints lead out of the field/ so
that no traps may be laid for it when it returns.

XL. A hippopotamus was exhibited at Borne for
the first time, together with five crocodiles, by
Marcus Scaurus at the games which he gave when
aedile c ; a temporary channel was made to hold
them. The hippopotamus stands out as an actual its mod-
master in one department of medicine ; for when its letttn9'
unceasing voracity has caused it to overeat itself it

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

obesus exit in litus recentis harundinum caesuras
speculatum atque ubi acutissimam vidit stirpem
inprimens corpus venam quandam in crure vulnerat
atque it a profluvio sanguinis morbidum alias corpus
exonerat et plagam limo rursus obducit.

97 XLI. Simile quiddam et volucris in eadem Aegypto
monstravit quae vocatur ibis, rostri aduncitate per
earn partem se perluens qua reddi ciborum onera
maxime salubre est. nee haec sola : a 1 multis
animalibus reperta sunt usui futura et homini.
dictamnum herbam extrahendis sagittis cervi mon-
stravere percussi eo telo pastuque herbae eius eiecto ;
iidem percussi a phalangio, quod est aranei genus,
aut aliquo simili cancros edendo sibi medentur.
est et ad serpentium ictus praecipua herba,2 qua se
lacerti quotiens cum his conseruere pugnam vulnerati

98 refovent. chelidoniamvisuisaluberrimamhirundines
monstravere vexatis pullorum oculis ilia medentes.
testudo cunilae quam bubulam vocant pastu vires
contra serpentes refovet, mustella ruta in murium
venatu cum iis dimicatione conserta. ciconia ori-
gano, hedera apri in morbis sibi medentur et cancros

99 vescendo maxime mari eiectos. anguis, hiberno situ
membrana corpori 3 obducta feniculi suco inpedi-

1 a om. v.L 2 herba add. ? Mayhoff.

3 Rackham : corporis.

0 Perhaps pennyroyal.

70

BOOK VIII. XL. 96-XLi. 99

comes ashore to reconnoitre places where rushes
have recently been cut, and where it sees an extremely
sharp stalk it squeezes its body down on to it and
makes a wound in a certain vein in its leg, and by thus
letting blood unburdens its body, which would
otherwise be liable to disease, and plasters up the
wound again with mud.

XLI. A somewhat similar display has also been other species
made in the same country of Egypt by the bird called ^f™^
the ibis, which makes use of the curve of its beak to
purge itself through the part by which it is most
conducive to health for the heavy residue of foodstuffs
to be excreted. Nor is the ibis alone, but many
animals have made discoveries destined to be useful
for man as well. The value of the herb dittany for
extracting arrows was shown by stags when wounded
by that weapon and ejecting it by grazing on that
herb ; likewise stags when bitten by the phalangium,
a kind of spider, or any similar animal cure themselves
by eating crabs. There is also a herb that is par-
ticularly good for snake-bites, with which lizards
heal themselves whenever they fight a battle with
snakes and are wounded. Celandine was shown
to be very healthy for the sight by swallows using it
as a medicine for their chicks' sore eyes. The
tortoise eats cunila a, called ox-grass, to restore its
strength against the effect of snake-bites ; the weasel
cures itself with rue when it has had a fight with
mice in hunting them. The stork drugs itself with
marjoram in sickness, and goats use ivy and a
diet consisting mostly of crabs thrown up from the
sea. When a snake's body gets covered with a skin
owing to its winter inactivity it sloughs this hindrance
to its movement by means of fennel-sap and comes

71

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mentum illud exuit rtitidusque vernat ; exuit autem
a capite primum, nee celerius quam uno die et nocte,
replicans ut extra fiat membranae quod fuerit intus.
idem hiberna latebra visu obscurato marathro
herbae se adfricans oculos inunguit ac refovet, si
vero squamae obtorpuere spinis iuniperi se scabit.
" draco vernam nausiam silvestris lactucae suco res-

100 tinguit. pantheras perfricata carne 1 aconito [vene-
num id est] 2 barbari venantur ; occupat ilico fauces
earum angor (quare pardalianches id venenum
appellavere quidam), at fera contra hoc excrementis
hominis sibi medetur, et alias tarn avida eorum ut a
pastoribus ex industria in aliquo vase suspensa altius
quam ut queat saltu attingere iaculando se ap-
petendoque 3 deficiat et postremo expiret, alioqui
vivacitatis adeo lentae ut eiectis interaneis diu pu-

101 gnet. elephans chamaeleone concolori 4 frondi 5
devorato occurrit oleastro huic veneno suo. ursi
cum mandragorae malum gustavere formicas lamb-
unt. cervus herba cinare venenatis pabulis
resistit. palumbes, graculi, merulae, perdices lauri
folio annuum fastidium purgant, columbae, turtures
et gallinacei herba quae vocatur helxine, anates,
anseres ceteraeque aquaticae herba siderite, grues
et similes iunco palustri. corvus occiso chamae-

1 v.l. per fricatas carnes.

2 om. Urlichs.

3 v.l. iaculando ea petendoque : iaculando se appetens
I'd appetat ideoque ? Mayhoff.

* cum concolori ? Mayhoff.
5 edd. : fronde.

0 The wall-pellitory.
72

BOOK VIII. XLI. 99-101

out all glossy for spring ; but it begins the process at
its head, and takes at least 24: hours to do it, folding
the skin backward so that what was the inner side
of it becomes the outside. Moreover as its sight is
obscured by its hibernation it anoints and revives its
eyes by rubbing itself against a fennel plant, but if
its scales have become numbed it scratches itself on
the spiny le aves of a j unip er . A large snake quenches
its spring nausea with the juice of wild lettuce.
Barbarian hunters catch leopards by means of meat
rubbed over with wolf's-bane; their throats are at
once attacked by violent pain (in consequence of
which some people have given this poison a Greek
name meaning choke-leopard), but to cure this the
creature doses itself with human excrement, and in
general it is so greedy for this that shepherds have
a plan of hanging up some of it in a vessel too high
for the leopard to be able to reach it by jumping up,
and the animal keeps springing up and trying to get
it till it is exhausted and finally dies, although other-
wise its vitality is so persistent that it will go on
fighting for a long time after its entrails have been
torn out. When an elephant swallows a chameleon
(which is poisonous to it) because it is of the same
colour as a leaf, it uses the wild olive as a remedy.
When bears have swallowed the fruit of the mandrake
they lick up ants. A stag uses wild artichoke as an
antidote to poisoned fodder. Pigeons, jays, black-
birds and partridges cure their yearly distaste
for food with bay-leaves; doves, turtle-doves and
domestic fowls use the plant called helxinea, ducks,
geese and other water-fowl water-starwort, cranes
and the like marsh-rushes. When a raven has
killed a chameleon lizard, which is noxious even to

73

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

leone, qui etiam victor-suo nocet, lauro infectum virus
extinguit.

102 XLII. Milia * praeterea, utpote cum plurimis ani-
malibus eadem natura rerum caeli quoque observa-
tionem et ventorum, imbrium, tempestatum praesa-
gia alia alio modo dederit, quod persequi inmensum
est, aeque scilicet quam reliquam cum singulis
hominum societatem. siquidem et pericula prae-
monent non fibris modo extisque, circa quod magna
mortalium portio haeret, sed et 2 alia quadam signi-

103 ficatione. ruinis inminentibus musculi praemigrant,
aranei cum telis primi cadunt. auguria quidem
artem fecere apud Romanos et sacerdotum collegium
vel maxime sollemne. est inter ea 3 locis rigentibus
et volpes, animal alioqui sollertia dirum 4 ; amnes
gelatos lacusque nonnisi ad eius itum reditumque
transeunt : observatum earn aure ad glaciem adposita

104 coniectare crassitudinem gelus. XLIII. Nee minus
clara exitii documenta sunt etiam in 5 contemnendis
animalibus. M. Varro auctor est a cuniculis suf-
fossum in Hispania oppidum, a talpis in Thessalia,
ab ranis civitatem in Gallia pulsam, ab locustis in
Africa, ex Gyara Cycladum insula incolas a muribus
fugatos, in Italia Amynclas a serpentibus deletas.

1 Multa ? (cf. § 106) Mayfioff. * et add. ? Mayhoff.

3 est in Thracia edd. 4 v,l. sollerti auditu,

74

BOOK VIIL XLI. IOI-XLIII. 104

its conqueror, it stanches the poisonous infection
with bay-leaves.

XLII. There are thousands of points besides,
inasmuch as Nature has likewise also bestowed upon SC
very many animals the faculty of observing the sky, dan^er'
and a variety of different modes of prognosticating
winds, rain and storms, a subject which it would be
an immense task to pursue, just as much so no doubt
as the. other points of alliance between particular
animals and human beings. For in fact animals even
give warning of dangers in advance, not only by
means of their entrails and internal organs, a thing
that much intrigues a great part of mankind, but also
by another mode of indication. When the collapse
of a building is imminent, the mice migrate in ad-
vance, and spiders with their webs are the first things
to fall. Indeed auguries have constituted a science
at Rome and have given rise to a priestly college of
the greatest dignity. In frostbound countries the
fox also is among the creatures believed to give
omens, being an animal of formidable sagacity in
other respects ; people only cross frozen rivers and
lakes at points where it goes or returns : it has been
observed to put its ear to the frozen surface and to
guess the thickness of the ice. XLIII. Nor are destructive
there less remarkable instances of destructiveness species-
even in the case of contemptible animals. Marcus
Varro states that a town in Spain was undermined
by rabbits and one in Thessaly by moles, and that
a tribe in Gaul was put to flight by frogs and one in
Africa by locusts, and the inhabitants were banished
from the island of Gyara in the Cyclades by mice,
and Amynclae in Italy was completely destroyed

75

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

citra Cynamolgos Aethiopas late deserta regio est a
scorpionibus et solipugis gente sublata, et a scolo-
pendris abactos Rhoetienses auctor est Theophrastus.
Sed ad reliqua ferarum genera redeamus.

105 XLIV. Hyaenis utramque esse naturam et alternis
annis maris alternis feminas fieri, parere sine mare
vulgus credit, Aristoteles negat. collum ut1 iuba
in continuitatem 2 spinae porrigitur flectique nisi cir-

106 cumactu totius corporis nequit. multa praeterea mira
traduntur, sed maxime sermonem humanum inter
pastorum stabula adsimulare nomenque alicuius addis-
cere quern evocatum foris laceret, item vomitionem
hominis irmtari ad sollicitandos canes quos invadat ;
ab uno animali sepulchra erui inquisitione corporum ;
feminam raro capi; oculis mille esse varietates
colorumque mutationes; praeterea umbrae eius
contactu canes obmutescere ; et quibusdam magicis
artibus omne animal quod ter lustraverit in vestigio

107 haerere. XLV. Huius generis coitu leaena Aethio-
pica parit corocottam, similiter voces imitantem
hominum pecorumque ; acies ei perpetua in utraque
parte oris nullis gingivis, dente continue, ne contrario
occursu hebetetur capsarum modo includitur. ho-

1 Mayhoff: et.

2 MayTwff : iuba et imitate.

0 An unknown animal.

BOOK VIII. XLIII. I04-XLV. 107

by snakes. North of the Ethiopic tribe of the
Bitch-milkers there is a wide belt of desert where
a tribe was wiped out by scorpions and poisonous
spiders, and Theophrastus states that the Rhoetienses
were driven away by a kind of centipede.

But let us return to the remaining kinds of wild
animals.

XLIV. The hyena is popularly believed to be
bi-sexual and to become male and female in alternate
years, the female bearing offspring without a male ;
but this is denied by Aristotle. Its neck stretches
right along the backbone like a mane, and cannot
bend without the whole body turning round. A
number of other remarkable facts about it are
reported, but the most remarkable are that among
the shepherds' homesteads it simulates human
speech, and picks up the name of one of them
so as to call him to come out of doors and tear him
in pieces, and also that it imitates a person being
sick, to attract the dogs so that it may attack them ;
that this animal alone digs up graves in search of
corpses; that a female is seldom caught; that its
eyes have a thousand variations and alterations of
colour; moreover that when its shadow falls on
dogs they are struck dumb ; and that it has certain
magic arts by which it causes every animal at which
it gazes three times to stand rooted to the spot.
XLV. When crossed with this race of animals the Hyena
Ethiopian lioness gives birth to the corocotta,a that hybrid*-
mimics the voices of men and cattle in a similar way.
It has an unbroken ridge of bone in each jaw, forming
a continuous tooth without any gum, which to
prevent its being blunted by contact with the
opposite jaw is shut up in a sort of case. Juba states

77

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

minum sermones imitari et mantichoran in Aethiopia
auctor est luba.

108 XLVI. Hyaenae plurimae gignuntur in Africa,
quae et asinorum silvestrium multitudinem fundit.
mares in eo genere singuli feminarum gregibus
imperitant. timent libidinis aemulos et ideo gravidas
custodiunt morsuque natos mares castrant; contra
gravidae latebras petunt et parere furto cupiunt.
gaudentque copia libidinis*

109 XLVII. Easdem partes sibi ipsi Pontici amputant
fibri periculo urguente, ob hoc se peti gnari:
castoreum id vocant medici. alias animal horrendi
morsus arbores iuxta flumina ut ferro caedit ; ho-
minis parte conprehensa non ante quam fracta
concrepuerint ossa morsus resolvit. cauda piscium
his, cetera species lutrae: utrumque aquaticum,
utrique mollior pluma pilus.

110 XLVIII. Ranae quoque rubetae, quarum et in
terra et in umore vita, plurimis refertae medica-
minibus deponere ea cotidie 1 ac resumere pastu
dicuntur, venena tantum semper sibi reservantes.

111 XLIX. Similis et vitulo marino victus in mari ac
terra, simile fibris et ingenium. evomit fel suum ad
maulta medicamenta utile, item coagulum ad comi-

1 v.L assidue.

B See § 75.

b The Latin name has been transferred to a vegetable oil.

», I.e. the toad.

78

BOOK VIII. XLV. 107-xnx. in

that in Ethiopia the mantichora a also mimics human
speech.

XLVI. Hyenas occur most numerously in Africa,
which also produces a multitude of wild asses. In
that species each male is lord of a separate herd of
females. They are afraid of rivals in their affections,
and consequently they keep a watch on their females
when in foal, and geld their male offspring with a
bite ; to guard against this the females when in foal
seek hiding-places and are anxious to give birth by
stealth. Also they are fond of a great deal of sexual
indulgence.

XLVII. The beavers of the Black Sea region prac-
tise self-amputation of the same organ when beset by
danger, as they know that they are hunted for the
sake of its secretion, the medical name for which is
beaver-oil.6 Apart from this the beaver is an animal
with a formidable bite, cutting down trees on the
river banks as if with steel ; if it gets hold of part of
a man's body it does not relax its bite before the
fractured bones are heard grinding together. The
beaver has a fish's tail, while the rest of its con-
formation resembles an otter's; both species are
aquatic, and both have fur that is softer than
down.

XLVIII. Also the bramble-frog,0 which is amphi-
bious in its habit, is replete with a great number of rog'
drugs, which it is said to evacuate daily and to re-
place by the food that it eats, always keeping back
only the poisons for itself.

XLIX. The seal also resembles the beaver both ***»*#•
in its amphibious habits and in its nature. It gets
rid of its gall, which is useful for many drugs, by
vomiting it up, and also its rennet, a cure for epileptic

79

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tiales morbos, ob ea se peti prudens. Theophrastus
auctor est anguis x modo et stelliones senectutem
exuere itaque protinus devorare praeripientis comi-
tiali morbo remedium.2 eosdem innocui ferunt 3 in
Graecia morsus, noxios 4 esse in Sicilia.

112 L. Cervis quoque est sua malignitas, quamquam
placidissimo animalium. urguente vi canum ultro
confugiunt ad hominem, et in pariendo semitas
minus cavent humanis vestigiis tritas quam seer eta
ac feris opportuna. conceptus earum post arcturi
sidus. octonis mensibus ferunt partus, interim et
geminos. a conceptu separant se, at mares relicti
rabie libidinis saeviunt, fodiunt scrobes ; tune rostra
eorum nigrescunt donee aliqui abluant imbres.
feminae autem ante partum purgantur herba
quadam quae seselis dicitur, faciliore ita utentes
utero. a partu duas herbas quae tamnus et seselis
appellantur pastae redeunt ad fetum: illis imbui
lactis primos volunt sucos quacumque de causa.

113 editos partus exercent cursu et fugam meditari
docent, ad praerupta ducunt saltumque demonstrant.
iam mares soluti desiderio libidinis avide petunt
pabula; ubi se praepingues sensere, latebras quae-
runt fatentes incommodum pondus. et alias semper
in fuga adquiescunt stantesque respiciunt, cum prope

1 Gelen (cf. xxx. 89) : angues.

2 Rackham : remedii aut remedia.

3 Mayhoff : ponti ferunt aut mortiferi.

4 Mayhoff : Graecia mortuos.

0 As well as the animals in § 111 : they grudge mankind
their horns, § 115.

80

BOOK VIII. XLIX. m-L. 113

attacks; it does this because it knows that it is
hunted for the sake of these products. Theo-
phrastus states that geckoes also slough off their old
skin as a snake does, and similarly swallow the slough
at once, it being a cure for epilepsy if one snatches it
from them. It is also said that their bite is harmless
in Greece but that they are noxious in Sicily.

L. Deer also a have their own form of stinginess,
although the stag is the gentlest of animals. When
beset by a pack of hounds they fly for refuge of their
own accord to a human being, and when giving birth
to young are less careful to avoid paths worn by
human footprints than secluded places that are
advantageous for wild beasts. The mating season
is after the rising of Arcturus. Pregnancy lasts
eight months, and occasionally they bear twins.
After mating the hinds withdraw, but the deserted
males rage in a fury of desire, and score the ground
with their horns ; afterwards their snouts are black
till a considerable rainfall washes off the dirt. The
females before giving birth use a certain plant called
hartwort as a purge, so having an easier delivery.
After giving birth they browse on the two plants
named dittany and seseli before they return to
the young: for some reason or other they desire
the sucklings' first draughts of milk to be flavoured
with those herbs. When the fawns are born they
exercise them in running and teach them to practise
escaping, and take them to cliffs and show them how
to jump. The males when at last freed from lustful
desire greedily seek pasture; when they feel they
are too fat, they look for lairs to hide in, showing
that they are conscious of inconvenient weight. And
on other occasions when running away from pursuit
they always stop and stand gazing backward, when

8r

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ventum est rursus fugae praesidia repetentes: hoc
fit intestini dolore tarn infirmi ut ictu levi rumpatur

114 intus. fugiunt autem latratu canum audito secunda
semper aura, ut vestigia cum ipsis abeant. mul-
centur fistula pastoral! et cantu. cum erexere aures,
acerrimi sunt auditus, cum remisere, surdi. cetero
animal simplex et omnium rerum miraculo stupens
in tantum ut equo aut bucula accedente propius
hominem iuxta venantem non cernant aut, si cernant,
arcum ipsum sagittasque mirentur. maria trameant
gregatim nantes porrecto ordine et capita inponentes
praecedentium clunibus vicibusque ad terga re-
deuntes: hoc maxime notatur a Cilicia Cyprum
traicientibus ; nee vident terras, sed in odorem1

115 earum natant. cornua mares habent, solique
animalium omnibus annis stato veris tempore amit-
tunt ; ideo sub ista die quam maxime invia petunt.
latent amissis velut inermes, sed et hi bono suo
invidentes : dextrum cornu negant inveniri ceu
medicamento aliquo praeditum; idque mirabilius
fatendum est cum et in vivariis mutent omnibus
annis; defodi ab iis putant. accensi autem utrius
libeat odore comitiales morbi deprehenduntur.

116 indicia quoque aetatis in illis gerunt, singulos annis
adicientibus ramos usque ad sexennes; ab eo

1 Gelen: odore.
82

BOOK VIII. L. 113-116

the hunters draw near again seeking refuge in
flight : this is done owing to pain in the gut, which
is so weak that a light blow causes internal rupture.
But when they hear the baying of hounds they always
run away down wind, so that their scent may go away
with them. They can be charmed by a shepherd's
pipe and by song. Their hearing is very keen when
they raise their ears, but dull when they drop them.
In other respects the deer is a simple animal and
stupefied by surprise at everything — so much so that
when a horse or a heifer is approaching they do not
notice a huntsman close to them, or if they see him
merely gaze in wonder at his bow and arrows.
They cross seas swimming in a herd strung out in
line with their heads resting on the haunches of the
ones in front of them, and taking turns to drop to
the rear : this is most noticed when they are crossing
from Cilicia to Cyprus ; and they do not keep land
in sight but swim towards its scent. The males have
horns, and alone of animals shed them every year at a
fixed time in spring ; consequently when the day in
question approaches they resort as much as possible
to unfrequented places. When they have lost
their horns they keep in hiding as if disarmed —
although these animals also are grudging of their
special good: people say that a stag's right horn,
which is endowed with some sort of healing drug,
is never found ; and this must be confessed to be the
more surprising in view of the fact that even stags
kept in warrens change their horns every year:
it is thought that they bury them. The smell of
either horn when burnt arrests attacks of epilepsy.
They also bear marks of their age in their horns,
each y£ar till they are six years old adding one tine ;

83

G2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tempore similia revivescunt nee potest aetas discerni,
sed dentibus senecta declaratur; aut enim paucos
aut nullos habent, nee in cornibus imis ramos alioqui

117 ante front em prominere solitos iunioribus. non
decidunt castratis cornua nee nascuntur, erumpunt
autem renascentibus tuberibus primo aridae cuti
similia, dein x teneris increscunt ferulis harundineas
in paniculas molli plumatas 2 lanugine. quamdiu
carent iis, noctibus procedunt ad pabula. incres-
centia solis vapore durant ad arbores subinde ex-
perientes: ubi placuit robur, in aperta prodeunt;
captique iam sunt hedera in cornibus viridante, ex
attritu arborum ut in aliquo ligno teneris dum
experiuntur innata. sunt 3 aliquando et candido
colore, qualem fuisse tradunt Q. Sertorii cervam
quam esse fatidicam Hispaniae gentibus persuaserat

118 et his cum serpente pugna: vestigant cavernas
nariumque spirit u extrahunfc renitentes. ideo singu-
lare abigendis serpentibus odor adusto cervino cornu,
contra morsus vero praecipuum remedium ex

119 coagulo hinnulei matris in utero occisi. vita cervis
in confesso longa, post c annos aliquibus denuo 4
captis cum torquibus aureis quos Alexander Magnus
addiderat adopertis iam cute in magna obesitate.
febrium morbos non sentit hoc animal, quin et

1 MayTioff: eadem.

2 Rackham : plumata.

3 Pintianug : fuit.

* Mayhojf:, annos a quibusdam aut annos aliquibus.

84

BOOK VIII. L. 116-119

though, thenceforward the horns grow again like the
old ones and the age cannot be told by them. But
old age is indicated by the teeth, for the old have
either few or none, nor have they tines at the bottom
of the horns, though otherwise these usually jut out
in front of the brow when they are younger. When
stags have been gelt the horns do not fall off nor grow
again, but burst out with excrescences that keep
springing again, at first resembling dry skin, and
then grow up with tender shoots into reedy tufts
feathered with soft down. As long as the stags are
without them, they go out to graze in the nights.
When they are growing again they harden them with
the heat of the sun, subsequently testing them on
trees, and only go out into the open when satisfied
with their strength; and before now they have
been caught with green ivy on their antlers, that has
been grafted on the tender horns as on a log of wood
as a result of rubbing them against trees while testing
them. Stags are sometimes even of a white colour,
as Quintus Sertorius's hind is said to have been,
which he had persuaded the tribes of Spain to believe
prophetic. Even stags are at war with a snake;
they track out their holes and draw them out by
means of the breath of their nostrils in spite of their
resistance. Consequently the smell made by burn-
ing stag's horn is an outstanding thing for driving
away serpents, while a sovereign cure against bites
is obtained from the rennet of a fawn killed in its
mother's womb. Stags admittedly have a long life,
some having been caught a hundred years later with
the gold necklaces that Alexander the Great had
put on them already covered up by the hide in great
folds of fat. This animal is not liable to feverish dis-

85

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

medetur huic timori: quasdam modo principes
feminas scimus omnibus diebus matutinis carnem
earn degustare solitas et longo aevo caruisse febribus ;
quod ita demum existimant ratum si vulnere uno
interierit.

120 Est eadem specie, barba tantum et armorum villo
distans, quern tragelaphon vocant, non alibi quam
iuxta Phasim amnem nascens.

LI. Cervos Africa propemodum sola non gignit,
at chamaeleonem et ipsa, quamquam frequentiorem
India.1 figura et magnitudo erant 2 lacerti, nisi
crura essent recta et excelsiora. latera ventri
iunguntur ut piscibus, et spina simili modo emmet.

121 rostrum, ut in parvo, haut absimile suillo, cauda
praelonga in tenuitatem desinens et implicans se
viperinis orbibus, ungues adunci, motus tardior ut
testudini, corpus asperum ceu crocodilo, oculi in
recessu cavo, tenui discrimine praegrandes et cor-
pori concolores. numquam eos operit, nee pupillae

122 motu sed totius oculi versatione circumaspicit. ipse
celsus hianti semper ore solus animalium nee cibo nee
potu alitur nee alio quam aeris alimento, rictu
terrifico 3 fere, innoxius alioqui. et coloris natura
mirabilior ; mutat namque eum subinde et oculis et
cauda et toto corpore, redditque semper quemcumque
proxime attingit praeter rubrum candidumque.

1 Mayhoffi Indiae (frequentior est in India? Rackham).

2 Rackham : erat.

3 Mayhoff : circa caprificos.

0 The Rion, running into tae ^lack Sea.

b In point of fact it lives on insects, which, it catches by
shooting out the tongue and drawing it back so quickly that
the ancients did not notice it:

c The MSS. give ' it is usually about wild fig-trees.'

86

BOOK VIII. L. II9-LI. 122

eases — indeed it even supplies a prophylactic against
their attack; we know that recently certain ladies
of the imperial house have made a practice of eating
venison every day in the morning1 and have been
free from fevers throughout a long lifetime ; though
it is thought that this only holds good if the stag has
been killed by a single wound.

The animal called the goat-stag, occurring only The
near the river Phasis," is of the same appearance, 9°at"sta4-
differing only in having a beard, and a fleece on the
shoulders.

LI. Africa almost alone does not produce stags, The
but Africa also has the chamaeleon, although India c'haremlem-
produces it in greater numbers. Its shape and size
were those of a lizard, were not the legs straight
and longer. The flanks are joined on to the belly
as in fishes, and the spine projects in a similar manner.
It has a snout not unlike a pig's, considering its
small size, a very long tail that papers towards
the end and curls in coils like a viper, and crooked
talons ; it moves rather slowly like a tortoise and has
a rough body like a crocodile's, and eyes in a hollow
recess, close together and very large and of the same
colours as its body. It never shuts its eyes, and
looks round not by moving the pupil but by turning
the whole eye. It holds itself erect with its mouth
always wide open, and it is the only animal that does
not live on food or drink or anything else but the
nutriment that it derives from the air,& with a gape
that is almost terrifying,0 but otherwise it is harmless.
And it is more remarkable for the nature of its colour-
ing, since it constantly changes the hue of its eyes
and tail and whole body and always makes it the
colour with which it is in closest contact, except

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

defuncto pallor est. caro in capita et maxillis et
ad commissuram caudae admodum exigua, nee
aliubi toto corpore ; sanguis in corde et circa oculos
tantum; viscera sine splene. hibernis mensibus
latet ut lacerta.

123 LII. Mutat colores et Scytharum tarandrus, nee
aliud ex iis quae pilo vestiuntur nisi in Indis lycaon,
cui iubata traditur cervix, nam thoes, — 'luporum
id genus est procerius longitudine, brevitate crurum
dissimile, velox saltu, venatu vivens, innocuum
hominij — habitum, non colorem, mutant, per hiemes

124 hirti, aestate nudi. tarandro magnitudo quae
bovi est, caput mains cervino nee absimile,
cornua ramosa, ungulae bifidae, villus magnitudine
ursorum sed, cum libuit sui coloris esse, asini similis.
tergori tanta duritia ut thoraces ex eo faciant.
colorem omnium arborum, fruticum, florum locor-
umque reddit metuens in quibus latet, ideoque raro
capitur. mirum esset habitum corpori tarn multi-
plicem dari, mirabilius est et villo.

125 LIII. Hystrices generat India et Africa spinea1
contectas cute 2 irenaceorum genere, sed hystrici
longiores aculei et, cum intendit cutem, missiles:
ora urguentium figit canum et paulo longius iaculatur.
hibernis autem se mensibus condit, quae natura
multis et ante omiiia ursis.

1 v,l, spina. 2 Mayhoff : contecta acu.

0 This is not true.

BOOK VIII. LI. 122-Liii. 125

red and white. When dead it is of a pallid colour.
It has flesh on the head and jaws and at the junction
of the tail in a rather scanty amount, and nowhere
else in the whole body; blood in the heart and
around the eyes only; its vital parts contain no
spleen. It hibernates like a lizard in the winter
months.

LIL The reindeer of Scythia also changes its The reindeer:
colours, but none other of the fur-clad animals does dwyesoj
so except the Indian wolf, which is reported to have colour'
a mane on the neck. For the j ackal — which is a kind
of wolf, longer in the body and differing in the
shortness of the legs, quick in its spring, living by
hunting, harmless to man — changes its raiment
though not its colour, being shaggy through the
winter but naked in summer. The reindeer is the
size of an ox ; its head is larger than that of a stag
but not unlike it; it has branching horns, cloven
hooves, and a fleece as shaggy as a bear's but, when
it happens to be self-coloured, resembling an ass's
coat. The hide is so hard that they use it for making
cuirasses. When alarmed it imitates the colours of
all the trees, bushes and flowers and places where it
lurks ,a and consequently is rarely caught. It would
be surprising that its body has such variety of charac-
ter, but it is more surprising that even its fleece has.

LI II. The porcupine is a native of India and Africa. The
It is covered with a prickly skin of the hedgehogs'
kind, but the spines of the porcupine are longer and
they dart out when it draws the skin tight : it pierces
the mouths of hounds when they close with it, and
shoots out at them when further off. In the winter
months it hibernates, as is the nature of many animals
and before all of bears.

89

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

126 LIV. Eorum coitus hiemis initio, nee vulgar!
quad rip edum more sed ambobus cubantibus con-
plexisque; deinde secessus in specus separating in
quibus pariunt xxx die plurimum quinos. hi sunt
Candida informisque caro, paulo muribus maior, sine
oculis, sine pilo; ungues tantum prominent, hanc
lambendo paulatim figurant, nee quicquam rarius
quam parientem videre ursam. ideo mares quadra-
genis diebus latent, feminae quaternis mensibus.

127 specus si non habuere, ramorum fruticumque con-
gerie aedificant impenetrabiles imbribus mollique
fronde constratos. primis diebus bis septenis tarn
gravi somno premuntur ut ne vulneribus quidem
excitari queant ; tune mirum in modum veterno
pinguescunt (illi sunt adipes medicaminibus apti
contraque defluvium capilli tenaces). ab his diebus
residunt ac priorum pedum suctu vivunt. fetus
rigentes adprimendo pectori fovent non alio incubitu

128 quam ad ova volucres. mirum dictu, credit Theo-
phrastus per id tempus coctas quoque ursorum
carnes, si adserventur, increscere, cibi nulla tune

1 argumenta nee nisi umoris minimum in alvo inveniri,
sanguinis exiguas circa corda tantum guttas, reliquo

129 corpori nihil inesse, procedunt vere, sed mares
praepingues, cuius rei causa non prompta est, quippe
ne somno quidem saginatis, praeter quattuordecim
dies ut diximus. exeuntes herbam quandam arum

90

BOOK VIII. LIV. 126-129

LIV. Bears couple at the beginning of winter, The bear.
and not in the usual manner of quadrupeds but both
lying down and hugging each other; afterwards
they retire apart into caves, in which they give birth
on the thirtieth day to a litter of five cubs at most.
These are a white and shapeless lump of flesh,
little larger than mice, without eyes or hair and only
the claws projecting. This lump the mother bears
slowly lick into shape. Nor is anything more unusual
than to see a she-bear giving birth to cubs. Con-
sequently the males lie in hiding for periods of forty
days, and the females four months. If they have
not got caves, they build rainproof %ns by heaping
up branches and brushwood, with a carpet of soft
foliage on the floor. For the first fortnight they sleep
so soundly that they cannot be aroused even by
wounds ; at this period they get fat with sloth to a
remarkable degree (the bear's grease is useful for
medicines and a, prophylactic against baldness).
As a result of these days of sleep they shrink in bulk
and they live by sucking their fore paws. They
cherish their freezing offspring by pressing them to
their breast, lying on them just like birds hatching
eggs. Strange to say, Theophrastus believes that
even boiled bear's flesh, if kept, goes on growing
in size for that period ; that no evidence of food and
only the smallest amount of water is found in the
belly at this stage, and that there are only a few
drops of blood in the neighbourhood of the heart
and none in the rest of the body. In the spring
they come out, but the males are very fat, a fact
the cause of which is not evident, as they have not
been fattened up even by sleep, except for a fortnight
as we have said. On coming out they devour a plant

91

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nomine laxandis intestinis alioquin concretis de-
vorant friantque l surculos dentibus 2 praedomantes
ora. oculi eorum hebetantur, qua maxima causa
favos expetuntj ut convulneratum ab apibus os levet

130 sanguine gravedinem illam. invalidissimum urso
caput, quod leoni firmissimum; ideo urguente vi
praecipitaturi se ex aliqua rupe manibus cooperto
iaciuntur, ac saepe in harena colapho infracto
exanimantur. cerebro veneficium inesse Hispaniae
credunt, occisorumque in spectaculis capita cremant
testato, quoniam potum in ursinam rabiem agat.

131 ingrediuntur et bipedes ; arbor em aversi derepunt.
tauros ex ore cornibusque eorum omnibus pedibus
suspensi pondere fatigant; nee alteri animalium in
maleficio stultitia sollertior. annalibus notatum est
M. Pisone M. Messala coss. a. d. xiv kal. Oct.
Domitium Ahenobarbum aedilem curulem ursos
Numidicos centum et totidem venatores Aethiopas
in circo dedisse. miror adiectum Numidicos fuisse,
cum in Africa ursum non gigni constet.

132 LV. Conduntur hieme et Pontici mures, dumtaxat
albi, quorum palatum in gustu sagacissimum auctores
quonam modo intellexerint miror. conduntur et
Alpini, quibus magnitudo melium est, sed hi pabulo

1 Mayhoffi circaque. a Mayhoff : dentium.

0 61 B.C. * Marmots.

92

BOOK VIII. LIV, 129-Lv. 132

called wake-robin to loosen the bowels, which are
otherwise constipated, and they rub their teeth on
tree-stumps to get their mouths into training. Their
eyes have got dim, which is the chief reason why
they seek for hives, so that their face may be stung
by the bees to relieve that trouble with blood. A
bear's weakest part is the head, which is the lion's
strongest ; consequently if when hard pressed by an
attack they are going to fling themselves down from
a rock they make the jump with their head covered
with their fore paws, and in the arena are often
killed by their head being broken by a buffet. The
Spanish provinces believe that a bear's brain contains
poison, and when bears are killed in shows their heads
are burnt in the presence of a witness, on the ground
that to drink the poison drives a man bear-mad. Bears
even walk on two feet, and they crawl down trees
backward. They tire out bulls with their weight by
hanging by all four feet from their mouth and horns ;
and no other animal's stupidity is more cunning in
doing harm. It is noted in the Annals that on 19 Sep-
tember in the consulship a of Marcus Piso and Marcus
Messala, Domitius Ahenobarbus as curule aedile
provided in the circus a hundred Numidian bears
and the same number of Ethiopian huntsmen. I
am surprised at the description of the bears as
Numidian, since it is known that the bear does not
occur in Africa.

LV. The mice of the Black Sea region also hibernate,
at all events the white ones, which are stated to have
a very discriminating palate, though I am curious to
know how the authorities detected this. Alpine
mice,& which are the size of badgers, also hibernate,
but these carry a supply of fodder into their caves

93

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ante in specus convecto.1 quidam narrant alternos
marem ac feminam subrosae conplexos fascem herbae
supinos cauda mordicus adprehensa invicem detrain
ad specum, ideoque illo tempore detrito esse dorso.
sunt his pares et in Aegypto, similiterque resident
in clunes et in binis pedibus gradiuntur prioribusque
ut manibus utuntur.

133 LVI. Praeparant hiemi et irenacei cibos ac
volutati supra iacentia poma adfixa spinis, unum
amplius tenentes ore, portant in cavas arbores.
iidem mutationem aquilonis in austrum condentes
se in cubile praesagiunt. ubi vero sensere venantem,
contracto ore pedibusque ac parte omni inferiore,
qua raram et innocuam habent lanuginem, convol-
vuntur in formam pilae, ne quid conprehendi possit

134 praeter aculeos. in desperatione vero urinam in se
reddunt tabificam tergori suo spinisque noxiam,
propter hoc se capi gnari. quamobrem exinanita
prius urina venari ars est. et turn praecipua dos
tergori, alias corrupto, fragili, putribus spinis atque
deciduis, etiam si vivat subtractus fuga. ob id non
nisi in novissima spe maleficio eo perfunditur,
quippe et ipsi odere suum veneficium, ita parcentes
sibi terminumque supremum opperientes ut ferme
ante captivitas occupet. calidae postea aquae

1 Detlefsen : cum quidara <m£,cum quidem.

5

0 Possibly jerboas.
94

BOOK VIII. LV. 132-LVi. 134

beforehand. Some people say that they let them-
selves down into their cave in a string, male and female
alternately holding the next one's tail in their teeth,
and lying on their backs, embracing a bundle of
grass that they have bitten off at the roots, and that
consequently at this season their backs show marks
of rubbing. There are also mice a resembling these
in Egypt, and they sit back on their haunches in a
similar way, and walk on two feet and use their fore-
paws as hands.

LVI. Hedgehogs also prepare food for winter,
and fixing fallen apples on their spines by rolling protection
on them and holding one more in their mouth carry
them to hollow trees. The same animals foretell a
change of wind from North to South by retiring to
their lair. But when they perceive someone hunting
them they draw together their mouth and feet and
all their lower part, which has thin and harmless
down on it, and roll up into the shape of a ball,
so that it may not be possible to take hold of any
part of them except the prickles. But when desperate
they make water over themselves, which corrodes
their hide and damages their spines, for the sake of
which they know that people catch them. Hence
the scientific way is to hunt them just after they
have discharged their water. And then the hide is of
particular value, whereas otherwise it is spoiled and
fragile, with the spines rotting and falling out, even
if the animal escapes by flight and lives. On this
account it does not drench itself with this damaging
stuff except as a last resort, since even the creatures
themselves hate this self-poisoning, sparing them-
selves and waiting for the final limit so long that
usually capture overtakes them beforehand. After-

95

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

adspersu resolvitur pila, adprehensusque pes alter e
posterioribus suspendiosa fame necat: aliter non

135 est occidere et tergori parcere. ipsum animal non,
tit remur plerique, vitae hominum supervacuum est,
si non sint l illi aculei, frustra vellerum mollitia in
pecude mortalibus data : hac cute expoliuntur vestes.
magnum fraus et ibi lucrum monopolio invenit, de
nulla re crebrioribus senatus consultis nulloque non
principe adito querimoniis provincialibus.

136 LVIL Urinae et duobus aliis animalibus ratio
mira. leontophonon accipimus vocari parvom nee
aliubi nascens quam ubi leo gignitur, quo gustato
tanta ilia vis et 2 ceteris quadripedum imperitans
ilico expiret. ergo corpus eius exustum aspergunt
aliis carnibus polentae modo insidiantes ferae,
necantque etiam cinere: tarn contraria est pestis.
haut inmerito igitur odit leo visumque frangit et
citra morsum exanimat; ille contra urinam spargit,
prudens hanc quoque leoni exitialem.

137 Lyncum umor it a redditus 3 ubi gignuntur glaciatur
arescitve in gemmas carbunculis similes et igneo
colore fulgentes, lyncurium vocatas atque ob id
sucino a plerisque ita generari prodito. novere hoc

1 essent ? JtackTiam. 2 Mayhoff (cf. § 48) : ut.

3 Lyncum urina reddita ? Mayhoff.

a fabulous.

BOOK VIII. LVI. 134-Lvn. 137

wards the ball into which they roll up can be made to
unroll by a sprinkle of hot water, and to fasten them
up by one of the hind feet kills them through starva-
tion when hanging : it is not possible to kill them in
any other way and avoid damaging the hide. The
animal itself is not, as most of us think, superfluous
for the life of mankind, since, if it had not spines,
the softness of the hides in cattle would have been
bestowed on mortals to no purpose : hedgehog skin
is used in dressing cloth for garments. Even here
fraud has discovered a great source of profit by
monopoly, nothing having been the subject of more
frequent legislation by the senate, and every emperor
without exception having been approached by com-
plaints from the provinces.

LVII. The urine of two other animals also has
remarkable properties. We are told that there is a 1)ane'
small animal called * lion's-bane ' a that only occurs
in regions where the lion is found, to taste of which
causes that mighty creature, the lord of all the other
four-footed animals, to expire immediately. Con-
sequently men burn this creature's body and sprinkle
it like pearl barley on the flesh of other animals as a
bait for a lion, and even kill their prey with its
ashes : so noisome a bane it is. Therefore the lion
naturally hates it, and when he sees it crushes it
and does all he can short of biting it to kill it ; while
it meets the attack by spraying urine, knowing already
that this also is deadly to a lion.

The water of lynxes, voided in this way when ®lfJ*
they are born, solidifies or dries up into drops like "protection-
carbuncles and of a brilliant flame-colour, called lynx-
water — which is the origin of the common story that
this is the way in wfich amber is formed. The

97

VOL. III. H

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sciuntque lynces, et invidentes urinam terra operiunt
eoque celerius solidatur ilia.

138 Alia sollertia in metu melibus: sufflatae cutis
distentu ictus hominum et morsus canum arcent.

LVIIL Provident tempestatem et sciuri obtu-
ratisque qua spiraturus est ventus cavernis ex alia
parte aperiunt fores ; de cetero ipsis villosior cauda
pro tegumento est. ergo in hiemes aliis provisurn
pabulum, aliis pro cibo somnus.

139 LIX. Serpentium vipera sola terra dicitur condi,
ceterae arborum aut saxorum cavis. et alias vel
annua fame durant algore modo dempto. omnia
secessus tempore veneno orba dormiunt. simili
modo et cocleae, illae quidem iterum et aestatibus,
adhaerentes maxime saxis, aut etiam iniuria resu-

140 pinatae avolsaeque non tamen exeuntes. in Ba-
liaribus vero insulis cavaticae appellatae non pro-
repunt e cavis terrae neque herba vivunt, sed uvae
modo inter se cohaerent. est et aliud genus minus
vulgare adhaerente operculo eiusdem testae se
operiens. obrutae terra semper hae et circa mari-
timas tantum Alpes quondam effossae coepere iam
erui et in Veliterno; omnium tamen laudatissimae
in Astypalaea insula.

141 LX. Lacertae, inimicissimum genus cocleis, ne-

0 Velletri in Latium.

b One of the Sporades near Crete.

BOOK VIIL LVII. 137-1*. 141

lynxes have learnt this and know it, and they
jealously cover up their urine with earth, thereby
causing it to solidify more quickly.

Another case of ingenuity in alarm is that of the
badgers : they ward off men's blows and the bites
of dogs by inflating and distending their skin.

LVIII. Squirrels also foresee a storm, and stop The
up their holes to windward in advance, opening s^uirrel-
doorways on the other side; moreover their own
exceptionally bushy tail serves them as a covering.
Consequently some have a store of food ready for the
winter and others use sleep as a substitute for food.

LIX. It is said that the viper is the only snake
that hides in the ground, all the others using holes
in trees or rocks. And for the rest they can last
out a year's starvation if only they are protected
against cold. All kinds sleep at the period of
retirement and are not poisonous. Snails also
hibernate in the same way, these indeed retiring
again in the summers also, mostly clinging to rocks,
or even when violently bent back and torn away,
nevertheless not going out. But those in the
Balearic Islands called cave-snails do not crawl out
of their holes in the ground and do not live on grass,
but cling together in a cluster like a bunch of grapes.
There is also another kind, which is not so common,
that shuts itself in with a tightly fitting lid formed
of the same material as its shell. These are always
buried in the earth, and formerly were only dug
up in the neighbourhood of the Maritime Alps,
but they have now begun to be pulled up in the
Velitraea district also; however the most highly
commended kind of all is on the island of Astypalaea.6

LX. The greatest enemy of the snail is the lizard ;

99

H2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

gantur semenstrem vitam excedere. lacertae l
Arabiae cubitales, in Indiae vero Nyso monte xxiv
in longitudinem pedum, coloris 2 fulvi aut punicei
aut caerulei.

142 LXI. Ex his quoque animalibus quae nobiscum
degunt multa sunt cognitu digna, fidelissimumque
ante omnia homini canis atque equus. pugnasse
adversus latrones canem pro domino accepimus
confectumque plagis a corpore non recessisse, volucres
ac feras abigentem; ab alio in Epiro agnitum in
conventu percussorem domini laniatuque et latratu
coactum fateri scelus. Garamantum regem canes
CC ab exilio reduxere proeliati contra resistentes.

143 propter bella Colophonii itemque Castabalenses
cohortes canum habuere ; hae primae dimicabant in
acie numquam detrect antes, haec erant fidissima
auxilia nee stipendiorum indiga. canes defendere
Cimbris caesis domus eorum plaustris inpositas.
canis lasone Lycio interfecto cibum capere noluit
inediaque consumptus est. is vero cui nomen
Hyrcani reddit Duris accenso regis Lysimachi rogo
iniecit se flammae, similiterque Hieronis regis.

144memorat et Pyrrhum Gelonis tyranni canem
Philistus ; memoratur et Nicomedis Bithyniae regis
uxore eius Consingi lacerata propter lasciviorem cum
marito iocum. apud nos Vulcatium nobilem qui
Cascellium ius civile docuit asturcone e suburbano
redeuntem, cum advesperavisset, canis a grassatore

1 lacertae ? Mayhoff : lacesti.

2 coloris? Mayhoff i oolore.

a An African tribe.
6 Cf. § 166.

loo

BOOK VIII. LX. i4i-LXi. 144

this genus is said not to live more than six months.
The lizard of Arabia is 18 inches long, but those on
Mount Nysus in India reach a length of 24: feet,
and are coloured yellow or scarlet or blue.

LXI. Many also of the domestic animals are Domestic
worth studying, and before all the one most faithful
to man, the dog, and the horse. We are told of %*•
a dog that fought against brigands in defence of
his - master and although covered with wounds
would not leave his corpse, driving away birds
and beasts of prey; and of another dog in
Epirus which recognized his master's murderer in a
gathering and by snapping and barking made him
confess the crime. The King of the Garamantes a
was escorted back from exile by 200 dogs who did
battle with those that offered resistance. The people
of Colophon and also those of Castabulum had troops
of dogs for their wars ; these fought fiercely in the
front rank, never refusing battle, and were their most
loyal supporters, never requiring pay. When some
Cimbrians were killed their hounds defended their
houses placed on waggons. When Jason of Lycia
had been murdered his dog refused to take food
and starved to death. But a dog the name of which
Duris gives as Hyrcanus when king Lysimachus's
pyre was set alight threw itself into the flame, and
similarly at the funeral of King Hiero, Philistus
also records the tyrant Gelo's dog Pyrrhus; also
the dog of Nicomedes king of Bithynia is recorded
to have bitten the King's wife Consingis because she
played a rather loose j oke with her husband. Among
ourselves the famous Vulcatius, Cascellius's tutor in
civil law, when returning on his cob & from his place
near Rome after nightfall was defended by his dog

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

defendit, item Caelium senatorem aegrum Placentiae
ab armatis oppression, nee prius ille vulneratus est

145 quam cane interempto. sed super omnia in nostro
aevo actis p. R. testatum Appio lunio et P, Silio
coss., cum animadvert eretur ex causa Neronis
Germanici fili in Titium Sabinum et servitia eius,
unius ex his canem nee in carcere abigi potuisse nee
a corpore recessisse abiecti in gradibus gemitoriis
maestos edentem ululatus magnae p. R. coronae,1
ex qua cum quidam ei cibum obiecisset, ad os de-
functi tulisse ; innatavit idem cadaver 2 in Tiberim
abiecti 3 sustentare conatus3 effusa multitudine ad
spectandam animalis fidem.

146 Soli dominum novere, et ignotum quoque si
repente veniat intellegunt; soli nomina sua, soli
vocem domesticam agnoscunt; itinera quamvis
longa meminere, nee ulli praeter hominem memoria
maior. impetus eorum et saevitia mitigatur ab

147 homine considente humi. plurima alia in his cotidie
vita invenit, sed in venatu sollertia et sagacitas
praecipua est. scrutatur vestigia atque persequitur,
comitantem ad feram inquisitorem loro trahens, qua
visa quam silens etocculta set quam significans demon-
stratio est cauda primum, deinde rostro. ergo etiam
senecta fessos caecosque ac debiles sinu ferunt

1 Rodham : magna p. R. corona.

2 v.l, cadavere : cadaveri ? Mayhoff.

3 Brotier: abiecto.

a A.D. 28.
102

BOOK VIII. LXI. 144-147

from a highwayman ; and so was the senator Caelius,
an invalid, when set upon by armed men at Piacenza,
and he did not receive a wound till the dog had been
despatched. But above all cases, in our own genera-
tion it is attested by the National Records that in the
consulship a of Appius Julius and Publius Silius when
as a result of the case of Germanicus's son Nero
punishment was visited on Titius Sabinus and his
slaves, a dog belonging to one of them could not be
driven away from him in prison and when he had been
flung out on the Steps of Lamentation would not
leave his body, uttering sorrowful howls to the vast
concourse of the Roman public around, and when
one of them threw it food it carried it to the mouth
of its dead master ; also when his corpse had been
thrown into the Tiber it swam to it and tried to keep
it afloat, a great crowd streaming out to view the
animal's loyalty.
Dogs alone know their master, and also recognize intelli

11.1 11 . ofdog

a sudden arrival as a stranger ; they alone recognize
their own names, and the voice of a member of the
household; they remember the way to places how-
ever distant, and no creature save man has a longer
memory. Their onset and rage can be mollified
by a person sitting down on the ground. Experience
daily discovers very many other qualities in these
animals, but it is in hunting that their skill and
sagacity is most outstanding. A hound traces and
follows footprints, dragging by its leash the tracker
that accompanies it towards his quarry ; and , on
sighting it how silent and secret but how significant
an indication is given first by the tail and then by
the muzzle! Consequently even when they are
exhausted with old age and blind and weak, men

103

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ventos et odorem captantes protendentesque rostra
ad cubilia.

148 E tigribus eos Indi volunt concipi, et ob id in silvis
coitus tempore alligant feminas. primo et secundo
fetu nimis feroces putant gigni, tertio demum edu-
cant. hoc idem e lupis Galli, quorum greges suum
quisque ductorem e canibus 1 et ducem habent :
ilium in venatu comitantur, illi parent ; namque inter
se exercent etiam magisteria. certum est iuxta
Nilum amnem currentes lamb ere, ne crocodilorum

149 aviditati occasionem praebeant. Indiam petenti
Alexandro Magno rex Albaniae dono dederat
inusitatae magnitudinis unum, cuius specie delec-
tatus iussit ursos, mox apros et deinde damas emitti,
contemptu inmobili iacente eo; qua segnitia tanti
corporis offensus imperator generosi spiritus interimi
eum iussit. nuntiavit hoc fama regi ; itaque alterum
mittens addidit mandata ne in parvis experiri vellet
sed in leone elephantove; duos sibi fuisse, hoc

150 interempto praeterea nullum fore, nee distulit
Alexander, leonemque fractum protinus vidit. postea
elephantum iussit induci, haud alio magis spectaculo
laetatus : horrentibus quippe villis per totum corpus
ingenti primum latratu intonuit, mox ingruit 2

1 [e canibus] ? JRackham.

2 Oronovius : inorevit aut in cervicem.

104

BOOK VIII. LXI. 147-150

carry them in their arms sniffing at the breezes
and scents and pointing their muzzles towards
cover.

The Indians want hounds to be sired by tigers, Dogs crossed
and at the breeding season they tie up bitches in the
woods for this purpose. They think that the first
and second litters are too fierce and they only rear
the third one. Similarly the Gauls breed hounds
from wolves ; each of their packs has one of the
dogs as leader and guide; the pack accompanies
this leader in the hunt and pays it obedience ; for
dogs actually exercise authority among themselves.
It is known that the dogs by the Nile lap up water
from the river as they run, so as not to give the
greed of the crocodiles its chance. When Alexander A famous
the Great was on his way to India, the king of Albania Jwmd'
had presented him with one dog of unusually large
size; Alexander was delighted by its appearance,
and gave orders for bears and then boars and finally
hinds to be let slip — the hound lying contemptuously
motionless. This slackness on the part of so vast an
animal annoyed the generous spirit of the Emperor,
who ordered it to be destroyed. Report carried
news of this to the king ; and accordingly sending
a second hound he added a message that Alexander
should not desire to test it on small game but on a
lion or an elephant; he had only possessed two of
the breed and if this one was destroyed there would
be none left. Alexander did not put off the trial,
and forthwith saw a lion crushed. Afterwards he
ordered an elephant to be brought in, and no other
show ever gave him more delight: for the dog's
hair bristled all over his body and it first gave a
vast thunderous bark, then kept leaping up and

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

adsultans contraque membra x exurgens hinc et illinc
artifici dimicatione, qua maxume opus esset infestans
atque evitans, donee adsidua rotatum vertigine
adflixit ad casum eius tellure concussa.

151 LXII. Canum generi bis anno partus. iusta ad
pariendum annua aetas. gerunt uterum sexagenis
diebus. gignunt caecos, et quo largiore aluntur
lacte eo tardiorem visum accipiunt, non tamen
umquam ultra xxi diem nee ante septimum.
quidam tradunt, si unus gignatur, nono die cernere,
si geminij decumo, itemque in singulos adici totidem
tarditatis ad lucem dies, et ab ea quae sit femina ex
primipara genita citius 2 cerni. optumus in fetu qui
novissimus cernere incipitj aut quern primum fert in
cubile feta.

152 LXIIL Rabies canum sirio ardente homini pesti-
fera, ut diximus, ita morsis letali aquae metu.
quapropter obviam itur per xxx eos dies gallinaceo
niaxime fimo inmixto canum cibis aut, si praevenerit
morbus, veratro. a morsu vero unicum remedium
oraculo quodam nuper repertum radix silvestris

153 rosae quae cynorrhoda appellatur. Columella auctor
est, si XL die quam sit natus castretur morsu cauda
summusque eius articulus auferatur, spinae 3 nervo
exempto nee caudam crescere nee canes rabidos
fieri, canem locutum in prodigiis, quod equidem

1 v.l. contraque beluam. 2 Edd. : clunos aut faunos.
3 Mayhoff e Columella : sequi.

« Cf. II 107.
106

BOOK VIII. LXI. 150-Lxm. 153

rearing against the creature's limbs on this side and
that, in scientific combat, attacking and retiring at
the most necessary points, until the elephant turning
round and round in an unceasing whirl was brought
to the ground with an earth-shaking crash.

LXII. The genus dog breeds twice a year. Ma- Dog
turity for reproduction begins at the age of one. lreedi
They carry their young for sixty days. Puppies
are born blind, and acquire sight the more slowly
the more copious the milk with which they are
suckled; though the blind period never lasts more
than three weeks or less than one. Some people
report that a puppy born singly sees on the 9th day,
twins on the 10th, and so on, a corresponding number
of days' delay in seeing light being added for each
extra puppy ; and that a bitch of a first litter begins
to see sooner. The best in a litter is the one that
begins to see last, or else the one that the mother
carries into the kennel first after delivery.

LXII I. Rabies in dogs, as we have said, is dangerous Precautions
to human beings in periods when the dog-star is
shining/* as it causes fatal hydrophobia to those bitten
in those circumstances. Consequently a precaution-
ary measure during the 30 days in question is
to mix dung — mostly chicken's droppings, in the dog's
food, or, if the disease has come already, hellebore.
But after a bite the only cure is one which was lately
discovered from an oracle, the root of the wild-rose
called in Greek dog-rose. Columella states that if a
dog's tail is docked by being bitten off and the end
joint amputated 40 days after birth, the spinal marrow
having been removed the tail does not grow again
and the dog is not liable to rabies. The only cases
that have come down to us among portents, so far

107

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

adnotaverim, accepimus et serpentem latrasse cum
pulsus est regno Tarquinius.

154 LXIV. Eidem Alexandro et equi magna raritas
contigit. Bucephalan eum vocarunt sive ab aspectu
torvo sive ab insigni taurini capitis armo inpressi.
xvi talentis ferunt ex Philonici Pharsalii grege
emptum etiam turn puero capto ems decore. ne-
minem hie alium quam Alexandrum regio instratu
ornatus recepit in sedem, alias passim recipiens.
idem in proeliis memoratae cuiusdam perhibetur
operae, Thebarum oppugnatione vulneratus in
alium transire Alexandrum non passus; multa
praeterea eiusdem modi, propter quae rex defuncto
ei duxit exequias urbemque tumulo circumdedit

155 nomine eius. nee Caesaris dictatoris quemquam
alium recepisse dorso equus traditur, idemque similis
humanis pedes priores habuisse, hac effigie locatus
ante Veneris Genetricis aedem. fecit et divus
Augustus equo tumulum, de quo Germanici Caesaris
carmen est. Agrigenti conplurium equorum tumuli
pyramides habent. equum adamatum a Samiramide

156 usque in coitum l luba auctor est. Scythici quidem
equitatus equorum gloria strepunt : occiso regulo ex
provocatione dimicantem hostem, cum ad spoliandum

1 usque ad rogum ? JBrotier.

a Say nearly £4000 gold.
6 Bucephala, see VI 77.

0 I.e. with toes not united into a hoof : if true, a throw-
bach to the prehistoric horse.
d Hyginus Fab. 243 : equo amisso in pyram se coniecit.

108

BOOK VIII. LXIII, i53-Lxiv. 156

as I have noted, of a dog talking and a snake barking
were when Tarquin was driven from his kingdom.

LXIV. Alexander also had the good fortune to Famous
own a great rarity in horseflesh. They called the
animal Bucephalus, either because of its fierce appear-
ance or from the mark of a bull's head branded on
its shoulder. It is said that it was bought for
sixteen talents a from the herd of Philonicus of Phar-
salus while Alexander was still a boy, as he was taken
by its beauty. This horse when adorned with the
royal saddle would not allow itself to be mounted
by anybody except Alexander, though on other
occasions it allowed anybody to mount. It is also
celebrated for a memorable feat in battle, not having
allowed Alexander during the attack on Thebes
to change to another mount when it had been
wounded ; and a number of occurrences of the same
kind are also reported, on account of which when
it died the king headed its funeral procession, and
built a city round its tomb which he named after it.&
Also the horse that belonged to Caesar the Dictator
is said to have refused to let anyone else mount it ;
and it is also recorded that its fore feet were like those
of a man,c as it is represented in the statue that stands
in front of the Temple of Venus Genetrix. The late
lamented Augustus also made a funeral mound for a
horse, which is the subject of a poem by Germanicus
Caesar. At Girgenti a great number of horses'
tombs have pyramids over them. Juba attests
that Semiramis fell so deeply in love with a horse
that she married it.<* The Scythian cavalry regiments
indeed resound with famous stories of horses: a
chieftain was challenged to a duel by an enemy
and killed, and when his adversary came to strip

109

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

venisset, ab equo eius ictibus morsuque confectum,
alium detracto oculorum operimento et cognito cum
matre coitu petisse praerupta atque exanimatum.
eadem 1 ex causa in Reatino agro laceratum prorigam
invenimus. namque et cognationum intellectus his
est, atque in grege prioris anni sororem libentius

157 etiam quam matrem equa comitatur. docilitas
tanta est ut universus Sybaritani exercitus equitatus
ad symphoniae cantum saltatione quadam moveri
solitus inveniatur. idem praesagiunt pugnam, et
amissos lugent dominos : lacrimas 2 interdum de-
siderio fundunt. interfecto Nicomede rege equos

158 eius inedia vitam finivit. Phylarchus refert Cen-
taretum e Galatis in proelio occiso Antiocho potitum
equo eius conscendisse ovantem, at ilium indignation e
accensum domitis frenis ne regi posset praecipitem
in abrupta isse exanimatumque una; Philistus a
Dionysio relictum in caeno haerentem, ut se evellisset ,
secutum vestigia domini examine apium iubae
inhaerente, eoque ostento tyrannidem a Dionysio
occupatam.

159 LXV. Ingenia eorum inenarrabilia. iaculantes
obsequia experiuntur difficiles conatus corpore ipso
nisuque iuvantium 3 ; item 4 tela humi collecta equiti
porrigunt. nam in circo ad currus iuncti non dubie

1 v.tt, aequa eadem, equa eadem.

2 v.l. lacrimasque.

3 Hardouin : invitantium.

4 Mayhoff: iam*

IIO

BOOK VIII. LXIV. I56-LXV. 159

his body of its armour, his horse kicked him and bit
him till he died; another horse, when its blinkers
were removed and it found out that a mare it had
covered was its dam, made for a precipice and com-
mitted suicide, We read that an ostler in the Reate
district was savaged by a horse for the same reason.
For horses actually understand the ties of relation-
ship, and a filly in a herd is even fonder of going
with a sister a year older than with their dam.
Their docility is so great that we learn that the entire
cavalry of the army of Sybaris used to perform a sort
of ballet to the music of a band. The Sybarite
horses also know beforehand when there is going to
be a battle, and when they lose their masters mourn
for them : sometimes they shed tears at the bereave-
ment. When King Nicomedes was killed his horse
ended its life by refusing food. Phylarchus records
that when Antiochus fell in battle one of the Galatians
Centaretus caught his horse and mounted it in
triumph, but it was fired with indignation and taking
the bit between its teeth so as to become unmanage-
able, galloped headlong to a precipice where it
perished with its rider. Philistus records that
Dionysius left his horse stuck in a bog, and when
it extricated itself it followed its master's tracks
with a swarm of bees clinging to its mane ; and that
in consequence of this portent Dionysius seized the
tyranny.
LXV. The cleverness of horses is beyond descrip- other proofs

TV, i • i* . ,1.1 «v7 ohntelhgence

tion. Mounted javelmmen experience their docility m horses.
in assisting difficult attempts with the actual swaying
of their body; also they gather up the weapons
lying on the ground and pass them to their rider.
Horses harnessed to chariots in the circus un-

iii

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

160 intellectum adhortationis et gloriae fatentur. Claudi
Caesaris saecularium ludorum circensibus excusso
in carceribus auriga albati Corace occupavere
primatum, optinuere, opponentes effundentes om-
niaque contra aemulos quae debuissent peritissimo
auriga insist ente facientes, et 1 cum puderet hominum
artem ab equis vinci, peracto legitimo cursu ad

161 cretam stetere. maius augurium apud priscos plebeis
circensibus excusso auriga ita ut si staret in Capitol-
ium cucurrisse equos aedemque ter lustrasse ; maxi-
mum vero eodem pervenisse a Veis cum palma et
corona effuso Ratumenna qui ibi vicerat: unde

162 postea nomen portae est. Sarmatae longinquo
itineri 2 inedia pridie praeparant eos, potum tantum
exiguum inpertientes, atque ita per centena* milia et
quinquaginta continue cursu euntibus insident.

Vivunt annis quidam quinquagenis, feminae
minor e spatio ; eaedem quinquennio finem crescendi
capiunt, mares anno addito. forma equorum qualis
maxime elegi3 oporteat pulcherrime quidem Ver-
gilio vate absoluta est, sed et nos diximus in libro
de iaculatione equestri condito, et fere inter
omnes constare video, diversa autem circo ratio

1 et add. ? Mayhoff. 2 Mayhoff : acturi.

3 JRackham : legi.

0 A.D. 47,

6 The Porta Batumenna at Borne.

c About 138 English miles.

d Georgics III 72.

112

BOOK VIII. LXV. 159-162

questionably show that they understand the shouts
of encouragement and applause. At the races in
the circus forming part of the Secular Games a of
Claudius Caesar a charioteer of the Whites named
Baven was thrown at the start, and his team took the
lead and kept it by getting in the way of their rivals
and jostling them aside and doing everything against
them that they would have had to do with a most
skilful charioteer in control, and as they were
ashamed for human science to be beaten by horses,
when they had completed the proper course they
stopped dead at the chalk line. A greater portent
was when in early days a charioteer was thrown
at the plebeian circus races and the horses galloped
on to the Capitol and raced round the temple three
times just the same as if he still stood at the reins ;
but the greatest was when a chariot-team reached
the same place from Veii with the palm-branch and
wreath after Batumenna who had won at Veii
had been thrown: an event which subsequently
gave its name to the gate.6 The Sarmatians get
their horses into training for a long journey by giving
them no fodder the day before and only allowing
them a small amount of water, and by these means
they ride them on a journey of 150 miles c without
drawing rein.

Some horses live fifty years, but mares live a shorter 4j£ tf
time ; mares stop growing when five years old, the ranges of
males a year later. The appearance of the horse build'
that ought to be most preferred has been very
beautifully described in the poetry of Virgil,d but we
also have dealt with it in our book on the Use of
the Javelin by Cavalry, and I observe that there is
almost universal agreement about it. But a different

"3

VOL. III. I

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quaeritur ; itaque cum bimi 1 alio subiungantur
imperio, non ante quinquennes ibi certamen accipit,

163 LXVI. Partum in eo genere undenis mensibus
ferunt, duodecimo gignunt. coitus verno aequinoctio
bimo utrimque vulgaris, sed a trimatu firmior partus.
generat mas ad annos xxxni, utpote cum a circo
post vicesimum annum mittantur ad subolem.
Opunte et ad quadraginta durasse tradunt adiutum

164 modo in attollenda priore parte corporis. sed ad
generandum paucis animalium minor fertilitas;
qua de causa intervalla admissurae dantur, nee
tamen quindecim initus eiusdem anni valet
tolerare. equarum libido extinguitur iuba tonsa;
gignunt annis omnibus ad quadragesimum. vixisse
equam 2 LXXV annos proditur.

165 In hoc genere gravida stans parit; praeterque
ceteras fetum diligit. et sane equis amoris innasci-
tur3 veneficium hippomanes appellatum in fronte,
caricae magnitudine, colore nigro, quod statim edito
partu devorat feta aut partum ad ubera non admittit.
si quis praereptum habeat, olfactu in rabiem id
genus agitur. amissa parente in grege armenti
reliquae fetae educant orbum. terram attingere
ore triduo proximo quam sit genitus negant posse.

1 Rackham : bimi in.

2 Rodham : equum.

3 Rackham : innasci.

114

BOOK VIII. LXV. i62-LXvi. 165

build is required for the Circus; and consequently
though horses may be broken as two-year-olds to
other service, racing in the Circus does not claim
them before five.

LXVI. Gestation in this genus lasts eleven months
and the foal is born in the twelfth month. Breeding
takes place as a rule in the spring equinox when
both animals are two-year-olds, but the progeny
is stronger if breeding begins at three. A stallion
goes on serving to the age of 33, as they are sent from
the race-course to the stud at 20. It is recorded
that a stallion at Opus even continued to 40, only he
needed assistance in lifting his fore-quarters. But
few animals are such unfertile sires as the horse;
consequently intervals are allowed in breeding,
and nevertheless a stallion cannot stand serving
fifteen times in the same year. Mares in heat
are cooled down by having their manes shorn;
they foal yearly up to 40. It is stated that a mare
has lived to 75.

In the equine genus the pregnant female is
delivered standing up ; and she loves her offspring
more than all other female animals. And in fact a
love-poison called horse-frenzy is found in the fore-
head of horses at birth, the size of a dried fig, black
in colour, which a brood mare as soon as she has
dropped her foal eats up, or else she refuses to suckle
the foal. If anybody takes it before she gets it,
and keeps it, the scent drives him into madness
of the kind specified. If a foal loses its dam the
other brood mares in the same herd rear the
orphan. It is said that a foal is unable to reach the
ground with its mouth within the first three days
after birth. The greedier it is in drinking the deeper

i2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quo quis acrior in bibendo profundius nares mergit.
Scythae per bella feminis uti malunt, quoniam
urinam cursu non inpedito reddant.

166 LXVII. Constat in Lusitania circa Olisiponem
oppidum et Tagum amnem equas favonio flante
obversas animalem concipere spiritum, idque partum
fieri et gigni pernicissimum ita, sed triennium vitae
non excedere. in eadem Hispania Gallaica gens
et Asturica equini generis,1 quos theldones vocamus,
minore forma appellatos asturcones, gignunt quibus
non vulgaris in cursu gradus sed mollis alterno
crurum explicatu glomeratio, unde equis tolutim
capere incursum traditur arte.

Equo fere qui homini morbi, praeterque vesicae
conversio, sicut omnibus in genere veterino.

167 LXVIII. Asinum cccc nummum emptum Q.
Axio senatori auctor est M. Varro, haut scio an
omnium pretio animalium victo. opera sine dubio
generi munifica arando quoque, sed mularum
maxime progeneratione. patria etiam spectatur
in his, Arcadicis in Achaia, in Italia Reatinis. ipsum
animal frigoris maxime impatiens : ideo non genera-
tur in Ponto, nee aequinoctio verno ut cetera pecua

168 admittitur sed solstitio. mares in remissione operis
deteriores. partus a tricensimo mense ocissimus

1 Barbarus : generis hi sunt.

a Aristotle, H.A. VI 572a 13, places this occurrence in
Crete.
» About £3200 gold,

116

BOOK VIII. LXVI. i65-Lxvm. 168

it dips its nostrils into the water. The Scythians
prefer mares as chargers, because they can make
water without checking their gallop.

LXVI I. It is known that in Lusitania a in the Horse-
neighbourhood of the town of Lisbon and the river
Tagus mares when a west wind is blowing stand
facing towards it and conceive the breath of life and
that this produces a foal, and this is the way to
breed a very swift colt, but it does not live more than
three years. Also in Spain the Gallaic and Asturian
tribes breed those of the horse kind that we call
1 theldones,' though when more of a pony type
they are designated * cobs ', which have not the
usual paces in running but a smooth trot, straightening
the near and off-side legs alternately, from which the
horses are taught by training to adopt an ambling
pace.

The horse has nearly the same diseases as mankind, Diseases of
and is also liable to shifting of the bladder, as are thehorse'
all beasts of the draft class.

LXVIII. Marcus Varro states that an ass was 4«-
bought for the senator Quintus Axius at 400,000 *reeding'
sesterces,& which perhaps beats the price paid for any
other animal. The services of the ass kind are un-
doubtedly bountiful in ploughing as well, but
especially in breeding mules. In mules also regard
is paid to locality of origin — in Greece the Arcadian
breed is esteemed and in Italy the Reatine. The
ass itself is very bad at enduring cold, and con-
sequently is not bred in the Black Sea district;
and it is not allowed to breed at the spring equinox
tike all other cattle, but at midsummer. The males
make worse sires when not in work. The females
breed at two and a half years old at earliest, but

n)

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sed a trimatu legitimus: totidem quot equae et
isdem mensibus et simili modo. sed incontinens
uterus urinam genitalem reddit ni cogatur in cursum
verberibus a coitu. raro geminos parit. paritura
lucem fugit et tenebras quaerit, ne conspiciatur ab
homine. gignit tota vita, quae est ei ad tricensimum

169 annum, partus caritas summa, sed aquarum tae-
dium maius : per ignes ad fetus tendunt, eaedem
si rivus minimus intersit horrent imos1 pedes
omnino tinguere. nee nisi adsuetos potant fontes
quae sunt in pecuariis atque ita ut sicco tramite ad
potum eant; nee pontes transeunt pro raritate
eorum tralucentibus fluviis; mirumque dictu,
sitiunt et, si mutentur aquae, ut bibant cogendae
exorandaeve sunt, nee nisi spatiosa in cubitu
laxitas tuta; varia namque somno visa concipiunt
ictu pedum crebro, qui nisi per inane emicuit, re-
pulsu durioris materiae clauditatem ilico adfert.

170 quaestus ex his opima praedia exuperat : notum
est in Celtiberia singulas quadringentena milia
nummum enixass mularum maxume partu. aurium
referre in his et palpebrarum piles aiunt; quamvis
enim unicolor reliquo corpore, totidem tamen
colores quot ibi fuere reddit. pullos earum epulari
Maecenas instituit multum eo tempore praelatos

1 Detlefsen : horrentia ut (horrent etiam) Mayhoff.

a See note on § 167.
118

BOOK VIII. LXVZII. 168-170

regularly from three; they can breed as many
times as mares, and in the same months and in a
similar way. But the womb cannot retain the
genital fluid but discharges it, unless the animal is
whipped into a gallop after coupling. It seldom
bears twins. When about to bear a foal it shuns^
the sunlight and seeks the shadow, so as not to be
seen by a human being. It breeds through all its
lifetime, which is thirty years. It has a very great
affection for its young, but a greater dislike for water :
she-asses will go through fire to their foals , but yet
if the smallest stream intervenes they are afraid of
merely wetting their hooves. Those kept in pastures
will only drink at springs they are used to, and where
they can get to drink by a dry track ; and they will
not go across bridges with interstices in their structure
allowing the gleam of the river to be seen through
them; and, surprising to say, they may be thirsty
and have to be forced or coaxed to drink, if the stream
is not the one they are used to. Only a wide allow-
ance of stall-room is safe for them to lie down in,
for when asleep they have a variety of dreams and
frequently let out with their hooves, which at once
causes lameness by hitting timber that is too hard
unless they have plenty of room to kick in. The
profit made out of she-asses surpasses the richest
spoils of war. It is known that in Celtiberia their
foals have made 400,000 sesterces0 per dam, especially
when mules are bred. They say that in she-asses
the hair of the ears and the eye-feds is an important
point, for although the rest of the dam's body is all
one colour, the foal reproduces all the colours that
were in those places. Maecenas set the fashion
of eating donkey foals at banquets, and they were

119

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

onagris ; post eum interiit auctoritas saporis asino.
moriente visu l celerrime id genus deficit.

171 LXIX. Ex asino et equa mula gignitur mense
xiii, animal viribus in labores eximium. ad tales
partus equas neque quadrimis minores neque de-
cennibus maiores legunt. arcerique utrumque genus
ab altero narrant nisi in infantia eius generis quod
ineat lacte hausto; quapropter subreptos pullos in
tenebris equarum uberi asinarumve eculeos admo-
vent. gignitur autem mula et 2 ex equo et asina,
sed effrenis et tarditatis indomitae.lenta omnia et 3 e

172 vetulis. conceptum ex equo secutus asini coitus
abortu perimit, non item ex asino equi. feminas a
partu optime septimo die impleri observatum, mares
fatigatos melius implere. quae non prius quam
dentes quos pullinos appellant iaciat conceperit
sterilis esse4 intellegitur, et quae non primo initu
generare coeperit. equo et asina genitos mares
hinnulos antiqui vocabant, contraque mulos quos

173 asini et equae generarent. observatum ex duobus
diversis generibus nata tertii generis fieri et neutri
parentium esse similia, eaque ipsa quae sunt ita
nata non gignere in omni animalium genere ; idcirco
mulas non parere. est in annalibus nostris peperisse

1 v.l. viso. 2 et add- Detlefsen.

3 Mayhoff : omnia esse, . * esse add. RacJcham.

a A variant text gives ' but after his time this delicacy went
out of favour. Animals of this genus very quickly flag when
they have seen a dying donkey.'

120

BOOK VIII. LXVIII. lyo-LXix. 173

much preferred to wild asses at that period; but
after his time the ass lost favour as a delicacy.
Animals of this genus very quickly flag when their
sight begins to go.a

LXIX. A mare coupled with an ass after twelve
months bears a mule, an animal of exceptional
strength for agricultural operations. To breed
mules they choose mares not less than four or more
than ten years old. Also breeders say that females
of either genus refuse stallions of the other one unless
as foals they were suckled by females of the same
genus as the stallions ; for this reason they stealthily
remove the foals in the dark and put them to mares'
or she-asses' udders respectively. But a mule is
also got by a horse out of an ass, though it is
unmanageable, slow and obstinate. Also all the
foals from old mares are sluggish. It causes mis-
carriage for a mare in foal by a horse to be put
to an ass, but not vice versa. It has been observed
that female asses are best coupled six days after they
have borne a foal, and that males couple better when
tired. It is noticed that a female that does not
conceive before she casts what are called her milk-
teeth is barren, as is one that does not begin to
produce foals from the first coupling. Male foals
of an ass by a horse were in old days called ninnies,
while the term mules was used for the foals of a mare
by an ass. It has been noticed that the offspring of
two different races of animals belong to a third kind
and resemble neither parent ; and that such hybrids
are not themselves fertile : this is the case with all
kinds of animals, and is the reason why mules are
barren. A number of cases of reproduction by cases of
mules are recorded in our Annals, but these

121

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

saepe, verum prodigii loco habitum. Theophrastus
vulgo parere in Cappadocia tradit, sed esse id animal
ibi sui generis, mulae calcitratus inhibetur vini

174 crebriore potu. in plurium Graecorum est monu-
mentis cum equa muli coitu natum quod vocaverint
ginnum, id est parvum mulum. generantur ex
equa et onagris mansuefactis mulae veloces in cursu,
duritia eximia pedum, verum strigoso corpore,
indomito animo. sed generator onagro et asina
genitus omnes antecellit. onagri in Phrygia et
Lycaonia praecipui. pullis eorum ceu praestantibus
sapore Africa gloriatur, quos lalisiones appellat.

175 mulum LXXX annis vixisse Atheniensium moni-
mentis apparet; gavisi namque, cum templum in
arce facerent, quod derelictus senecta scandentia
iumenta comitatu nisuque exhortaretur, decretum
fecere ne frumentarii negotiatores ab incerniculis
eum arcerent.

176 LXX. Bubus Indicis camelorum altitudo traditur,
cornua in latitudinem quaternorum pedum. in
nostro orbe Epiroticis laus maxima a Pyrrhi, ut
feruntj iam inde regis cura. id consecutus est non
ante quadrimatum ad partus vocando ; praegrandes
itaque fuere et hodieque reliquiae stirpium durant.
at nunc anniculae fecunditatemposcuntur, tolerantius
tamen bimae, tauri generationem quadrimi. inplent

0 The Axni-buffalo,

122

BOOK VIII. LXIX. 173-LXx. 176

considered portentous. Theophrastus states that
mules breed commonly in Cappadocia, but that the
Cappadocian mule is a peculiar species. A mule
can be checked from kicking by rather frequent
drinks of wine. It is stated in the records of a good
many Greeks that a foal has been got from a mare
coupled with a mule, called a ginnus, which means
a small mule. She-mules bred from a mare and
tamed wild-asses are swift in pace and have ex-
tremely hard hooves, but a lean body and an indomit-
able spirit. But as a sire the foal of a wild-ass and a
domestic she-ass excels all others. The wild-asses
in Phrygia and Lycaonia are pre-eminent. Africa
boasts of their foals as an outstanding table delicacy ;
the vernacular word for them is lalisio. Records at
Athens attest a mule's having lived 80 years; for
the citizens were so delighted because after it had
been put aside owing to old age it encouraged the
teams by its company and assistance in their uphill
work during the construction of a temple on the
citadel, that they made a decree that the corn-dealers
were not to keep it away from their stands.

LXX, Indian oxena are reported to be as tall as oxen,
camels and to have horns with a span of four feet. mrielies °f:
In our part of the world the most famous are those
of Epirus, having been so, it is said, ever since the
attention given to them by King Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus
achieved this result by not requisitioning them for
breeding before the age of four ; consequently his
oxen were very large, and the remains of his breeds
continue even to-day. But now yearling heifers Deeding and
are called upon for breeding, though they can &******? of.
stand it better at two years, while bulls are made
to serve at four. Each bull serves ten cows in the

123

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

singuli denas eodem anno, tradunt, si a coitu in
dexteram partem abeant tauri, generates mares

177 esse, si in laevam, feminas. conceptio uno initu
peragitur, quae si forte pererravit, xx post diem
mar em femina repetit. pariunt mense x ; quicquid
ante genitum inutile est. sunt auctores ipso com-
plente decumum mensem die parere. gignunt
raro geminos. coitus a delphini exortu a. d. pr.
non. lanuarias diebus triginta, aliquis et autumno,
gentibus quidem quae lacte vivunt it a dispensatus
ut omni tempore anni supersit id alimentum.

178 tauri non saepius quam bis die ineunt. boves
animalium soli et retro ambulantes pascuntur, apud
Garamantas quidem haut aliter. vita feminis xv
annis longissima, maribus xx; robur in quinquen-
natu. lavatione calidae aquae traduntur pinguescere,
et si quis incisa cute spiritum harundine in viscera

179 adigat. non degeneres existimandi etiam minus
laudato aspectu: plurimum lactis Alpinis quibus
minimum corporis, plurimum laboris capite non
cervice iunctis. Syriacis non sunt palearia sed
gibber in dorso. Carici quoque in parte Asiae foedi
visu tub ere super armos a cervicibus eminent e,
luxatis cornibus, excellentes in opere narrantur,
cetero nigri coloris candidive ad laborem damnantur ;
tauris minor a quam bubus cornua tenuioraque.

180 domitura bourn in trimatu, postea sera, ante prae-

124

BOOK VIII. LXX. 176-180

same year. It is said that if the bulls after coupling
go away towards the right hand side the offspring
will be males, and if towards the left, females.
Conception is effected by one coupling, and if this
happens to miss, the female goes to a male again
twenty days after. They bear the calf in the tenth
month; one produced before is of no use. Some
authorities say that they bear on the actual last day
of the tenth month. They rarely produce twins.
Coupling takes place in the thirty days following
the rise of the Dolphin on January 4, and occasionally
in the autumn also, though nations that live on milk
spread it out so that there may be a supply of this
nutriment at every season of the year. Bulls do
not couple more than twice in one day. Oxen are
the only animals that graze even while walking
backward; indeed among the Garamantes that is
their only way of grazing. The longest life of a cow
is 15 years and of a bull 20 ; they grow to full strength
at 5. Washing in hot water is said to fatten them,
and also cutting a hole in the hide and blowing air
into the flesh with a reed. Even the breeds less
praised for their appearance are not to be deemed
inferior : the Alpine cows which are the smallest in
size give most milk, and do most work, although they
are yoked by the head and not the neck. Syrian
oxen have no dewlaps, but a hump on the back.
Also the Carian breed in a district of Asia is said to
be ugly in appearance, with a swelling that projects
from the neck over the shoulders and with the horns
displaced, but excellent in work — although when black
and white in colour they are said to be no good for
ploughing ; the bulls have smaller and thinner horns
than the cows. Oxen should be broken when three

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

matura; optume cum domito iuvencus inbuitur.
socium enim laboris agrique culturae habemus hoc
animal, tantae apud priores curae ut sit inter exempla
damnatus a p. R. die dicta qui concubino procaci
rure omassum edisse se negante occiderat bovem,
actusque in exilium tamquam colono suo interempto.

181 Tauris in aspectu generositas, torva fronte, auribus
saetosis, cornibus in procinctu dimicationem po-
scentibus ; sed tota comminatio prioribus in pedibus :
stat ira gliscente alternos replicans spargensque
in alvum harenam, et solus animalium eo stimulo

182 ardescens. vidimus ex imperio dimicantes et ideo
monstratos l rotari, cornibus cadentes excipi iterum-
que resurgere,2 modo iacentes ex humo tolli, bigarum-
que etiam cursu 3 citato velut aurigas insist ere.
Thessalorum gentis inventum est equo iuxta quad-
ripedante cornu intorta cervice tauros necare;
primus id spectaculum dedit Romae Caesar dictator.

183 hinc victimae opimae et lautissima deorum placatio.
huic tantum animali omnium quibus procerior cauda
non statim nato consummatae ut ceteris mensurae ;
crescit uni donee ad vestigia ima perveniat. quam-
obrem victimarum probatio in vitulo ut articulum

1 v.L demonstrates (et iocose demonstrates Mayhoff).

2 Vidg. regere.

3 Gronovius ; curru.

a 45 B.C.
126

BOOK VIII. LXX, 180-183

years old ; ^fter that is too late and before too early ;
the best way to train a young bullock is to yoke it
with one already broken in. For we possess in
this animal a partner in labour and in husbandry,
held in such esteem with our predecessors that
among our records of punishments there is a case of
a man who was indicted for having killed an ox
because a wanton young companion said he had
never eaten bullock's tripe, and was convicted by
the public court and sent into exile just as though
he had murdered his farm-labourer.

Bulls have a noble appearance, a grim brow, bristly
ears, and horns bared for action and asking for a
figfyt ; but their chief threat is in their fore feet : a
bull stands glowing with wrath, bending back either
fore foot in turn and splashing up the sand against
his belly — it is the only animal that goads itself into
a passion by these means. We have seen bulls,
when fighting a duel under orders and on show for
the purpose, being whirled round and caught on
the horns as they fall and afterwards rise again,
and then when lying down be lifted off the ground,
and even stand in a car like charioteers with a pair
of horses racing at full speed. It is a device of
the Thessalian race to kill bulls by galloping a horse
beside them and twisting back the neck by the horn ;
the dictator Caesar first gavea this show at Rome.
The bull supplies costly victims and the most sump- Bulls for
tuous appeasement of the gods. In this animal sacn^M-
only of all that have a comparatively long tail, the
tail is not of the proper size from birth, as it is in
the others ; and with it alone the tail grows till it
reaches right down to the feet. Consequently the
test of victims for sacrifice in the case of a calf is

127

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

suffraginis contingat: breviore non litant. hoc
quoque notatum, vitulos ad aras umeris hominis
adlatos non fere litari,1 sicut nee claudicante nee
aliena hostia deos placari nee trahente se ab aris.
est frequens in prodigiis priscorum bovem locutum,
quo nuntiato senatum sub diu haberi solitum.

184 LXXI. Bos in Aegypto etiam numinis vice colitur ;
Apin vocant. insigne ei in dextro latere candicans
macula cornibus lunae crescere incipientis, nodus
sub lingua quern cantharum appellant, non est fas
eum certos vitae excedere annos, mersumque in
sacerdotum fonte necant quaesituri luctu alium quern
substituant, et donee invenerint maerent derasis
etiam capitibus. nee tamen umquam diu quaeritur.

185 inventus deducitur Memphim a sacerdotibus c.
delubra ei gemma, quae vocant thalamos, auguria
populorum: alterum intrasse laetum est, in altero
dira portendit. responsa privatis dat e manu
consulentium cibum capiendo; Germanici Caesaris
manum aversatus est haut multo postea extincti.
cetero secretus, cum se proripuit in coetus, incedit
submotu lictorum, gregesque puerorum comitantur
cannen honori eius canentium; intellegere videtur

i litari ? Brotier : litare.

« A.D. 49, in Egypt. His murder was attributed to Piso,
legate of Syria.

128

BOOK VIII. LXX. i83-LXxi. 185

that the tail must reach the joint of the hock; if
it is shorter the offering is not acceptable. It has
also been noted that calves are not usually acceptable
if carried to the altars on a man's shoulders, and also
that the gods are not propitiated if the victim is
lame or is not of the appropriate sort, or if it drags
itself away from the altar. It frequently occurs
among the prodigies of old times that an ox spoke,
and when this was reported it was customary for a
meeting of the senate to be held in the open air.

LXXI. In Egypt an ox is even worshipped in
place of a god; its name is Apis. Its distinguishing
mark is a bright white spot in the shape of a crescent
on the right flank, and it has a knob under the tongue
which they call a beetle. It is not lawful for it to
exceed a certain number of years of life, and they
kill it by drowning it in the fountain of the priests,
proceeding with lamentation to look for another to
put in its place, and they go on mourning till they have
found one, actually shaving the hair off their heads.
Nevertheless the search never continues long.
When the successor is found it is led by 100 priests
to Memphis. It has a pair of shrines, which they
call its bedchambers, that supply the nations
with auguries ; when it enters one this is a joyful
sign, but in the other one it portends terrible events.
It gives answers to private individuals by taking
food out of the hand of those who consult it; it
turned away from the hand of Germanicus Caesar,
who was made away with not long after.* Usually
living in retirement, when it sallies forth into
assemblies it proceeds with lictors to clear the way,
and companies of boys escort it singing a song in its
honour ; it seems to understand, and to desire to be

129
VOL. m. K

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

et adorari velle. hi greges repente lymphati futura

186 praecinunt. femina bos ei semel anno ostenditur,
suis et ipsa insignibus, quamquam aliis; semperque
eodem die et inveniri earn et extingui tradunt.
Memphi est locus in Nilo quern a figura vocant
Phialam ; omnibus annis ibi auream pateram argen-
teamque mergunt iis1 diebus quos habent natales
Apis, septem hi sunt; mirumque neminem per
eos a crocodilis attingi, octavo post horam diei
sextam redire beluae feritatem.

187 LXXII. Magna et pecori gratia vel in placamentis
deorum vel in usu velleram. ut boves victiun ho-
minum excolunt ita corporum tutela pecori debetur.
generatio bimis utrimque ad novenos annos, qui-
busdam et ad x. primiparis minores fetus, coitus
omnibus ab arcturi occasu, id est a. d. in idus Maias
ad aquilae occasum x kal. Aug. ; gerunt partum
diebus CL. postea concept! invalidi; cordos voca-
bant antiqui post id tempus natos. multi hibernos
agnos praeferunt vernis, quoniam magis intersit
ante solstitium quam ante brumam firmos esse

188 solumque toe animal utiliter bruma nasci. arieti
naturale agnas fastidire, senectam ovium consectari ;
et jpse melior senecta, rnutilus quoque utilior.

,130

BOOK VIII. LXXI. iSs-Lxxn. 188

worshipped. These companies are suddenly seized
with frenzy and chant prophecies of future events.
Once a year a cow is displayed to it, she too with her
decorations, although they are not the same as his ;
and it is traditional for her always to be found and
put to death on the same day. At Memphis there
is a place in the Nile which from its shape they call
the Goblet; every year they throw into the river
there a gold and a silver cup on the days which they
keep as the birthdays of Apis. These are seven;
and it is a remarkable fact that during these days
nobody is attacked by crocodiles, but that after
midday on the eighth day the creature's savagery
returns.

LXXII. Sheep are also of great service either skeepr
in respect of propitiatory offerings to the gods or ree wg'
in the use of their fleeces. As oxen improve men's
diet, so the protection of their bodies is owed
to sheep. They breed when two years old on both
sides, till the age of nine, and in some cases even till
ten. The lambs at the first birth are smaller. They
all couple from the setting of Arcturus, that is May
13th, to the setting of Aquila, July 23rd; they
carry their lambs 150 days. Lambs conceived
after the date mentioned are weak ; in old days those
born later were called cordi. Many people prefer
winter lambs to spring ones, holding that it is more
important for them to be well-established before
midsummer than before midwinter, and that this
animal alone is advantageously born in winter. It
is inbred in the ram to despise lambs as mates and
to desire maturity in sheep ;, and the ram himself is
better in old age, and also *aore serviceable when
polled. His wildness is restrained by boring a hole

131

K2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ferocia eius cohibetur cornu iuxta aurem terebrata.
dextro teste praeligato feminas generat, laevo
mares, tonitrua solitariis ovibus abortus inferunt;
remedium est congregare eas, ut coetu iuventur.

189 aquilonis flatu mares concipi dicunt, austri feminas ;
atque in eo genere arietum maxime spectantur ora,
quia cuius coloris sub lingua habuere venas eius et
lanicium in fetu est, variumque, si plures fuere. et
mutatio aquarum potusque variat.

Ovium summa genera duo, tectum et colonicum,
illud mollius, hoc in pascuo delicatius, quippe cum
tectum 1 rubis vescatur.2 operimenta eis ex Arabicis
praecipue.

190 LXXIIL Lana autem laudatissima Apula et
quae in Italia Graeci pecoris appellatur, alibi Italica.
tertium locum Milesiae oves optinent. Apulae
breves villo nee nisi paenulis celebres ; circa Tarentum
Canusiumque summam nobilitatem habent, in
Asia vero eodem genere Laudiceae. alba Circum-
padanis nulla praefertur, nee libra centenos nummos

] 91 ad hoc aevi excessit ulla. oves non ubique tondentur,
durat quibusdam in locis vellendi mos. colorum
plura genera, quippe cum desint etiam nomina
eis quas nativas appellant aliquot modis : Hispania

1 JSrotier : quippe contectum.

2 quippe non tectum rubis vexatur MayJioff.

* A conjectural reading gives c in fact not being jacketed
they are troubled by brambles.'

* Say 12 shillings.

'132

BOOK VIIL LXXII. i88-Lxxm. 191

in the horn close to the ear. If a ligature is put
on the right testicle he gets females and if on the
left males. Claps of thunder cause sheep to miscarry
when solitary ; the remedy is to herd them in flocks,
so as to be cheered by company. They say that male
lambs are got when a north wind is blowing and female
when a south; and in this breed the greatest
attention is given to the mouths of the rams, as the
wool in the case of the progeny is of the colour of
the veins under the tongue of the parent ram, and
if these were of several colours the lamb is vari-
coloured. Also changing the water they drink varies
their colour.

There are two principal breeds of sheep, jacketed
sheep and farm sheep ; the former are softer and
the latter more delicate in their pasture, inasmuch as
the jacketed sheep feeds on brambles.0 The best
jackets for them are made of Arabian sheep's wool.

LXXII I. The most highly esteemed wool is the varieties
Apulian and the kind that is called in Italy wool of^Two
the Greek breed and elsewhere Italian wool. The
third place is held by the sheep of Miletus. The
Apulian fleeces are short in the hair, and not of great
repute except for cloaks; they have a very high
reputation in the districts of Taranto and Canossa,
as have the Laodicean fleeces of the same breed in
Asia. No white fleece is valued above that from
the district of the Po, and none has hitherto gone
beyond the price of 100 sesterces 6 a pound. Sheep
are not shorn everywhere — in some places the
practice survives of plucking off the wool. There
are several sorts of colour, in fact even names are
lacking for the wools which are variously designated
after their places of origin : Spain has the principal

133

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nigri velleris praecipuas habet, Pollentia iuxta
Alpes card, Asia rutili quas Erythraeas vocant,
item Baetica, Canusium fulvi, Tarentum et suae
pulliginis. sucidis omnibus medicata vis. Histriae
Liburniaque pilo propior quam lanae, pexis aliena
vestibus, et quam Salacia scutulato textu commendat
in Lusitania. similis circa Piscinas provinciae Nar-
bonensis, similis et in Aegypto, ex qua vestis de-
trita usu pingitur rursusque aevo durat. est et
hirtae pilo crasso in tapetis antiquissima gratia:
iam certe priscos 1 iis usos Homer us auctor est.
aliter haec Galli pingunt, aliter Parthorum gentes.

192 lanae et per se coactae vestem faciunt et, si addatur
acetum, etiam ferro resistunt, immo vero etiam
ignibus novissimo sui purgamento. quippe aenis
polientium extract a in tomenti usum veniunt,
Galliarum, ut arbitror, invento: certe Gallicis

193 hodie nominibus discernitur. nee facile dixerim
qua id aetate coeperit ; antiquis enim torus e stra-
mento erat, qualiter etiam nunc in castris, gau-
sapae patris mei memoria coepere, amphimallia
nostra, sicut villosa etiam ventralia; nam tunica
lati clavi in modum gausapae texi nunc primum
incipit. lanarum nigrae nullum colorem bibunt;
de reliquarum infectu suis locis dicemus in conchyliis
maris aut herbarum natura.

1 priscos om, v.l.

« Odyssey 4. 298 'AA/aWi? 8e Tcwn?ra fepev uaAa/<ro0 ept
et passim.

b IX c. 62. « XXI c. 12.

134

BOOK VIII. Lxxm. 191-193

black wool fleeces, Pollentia near the Alps white,
Asia the red fleeces that they call Erythrean,
Baetica the same, Canossa tawny, Taranto also a dark
colour of its own. All fresh fleeces have a medicinal
property. Istrian and Liburnian fleece is nearer to hair
than wool, and not suitable for garments with a soft
nap ; and the same applies to the fleece that Salacia
in Lusitania advertises by its check pattern. There
is a similar wool in the district of the Fishponds in the
province of Narbonne, and also in Egypt, which is
used for darning clothes worn by use and making
them last again for a long period. Also the coarse
hair of a shaggy fleece has a very ancient popularity
in carpets : Homer a is evidence that they were un-
doubtedly in use even in very early times. Different
methods of dyeing these fleeces are practised by the
Gauls and by the Parthian races. Self-felted fleeces
make clothing, and also if vinegar is added withstand
even steel, nay more even fire, the latest method
of cleaning them. In fact fleeces drawn from, the
coppers of the polishers serve as stuffing for cushions,
I believe by a French invention : at all events at the
present day it is classified under Gallic names. And
I could not easily say at what period this began ; for
people in old times had bedding of straw, in the same
way as in camp now. Frieze cloaks began within my
father's memory and cloaks with hair on both sides
within my own, as also shaggy body-belts ; moreover
weaving a broad-striped tunic after the manner of a
frieze cloak is coming in for the first time now.
Black fleeces will not take dye of any colour; we
will discuss the dyeing of the other sorts in their
proper places under the head of marine shellfish &
or the nature Jof various plants. c

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

194 LXXIV. Lanam in colo et fuso Tanaquilis, quae
eadem Gala Caecilia vocata est, in templo Sanci
durasse prodente se auctor est M. Varro, factamque
ab ea togam regiam undulatam in aede Fortunae,
qua Ser. Tullius fuerat usus. inde factum ut
nubentes virgines comitaretur colus compta et fusus
cum stamine. ea prima texuit rectam tunicam,
qualis cum toga pura tirones induuntur novaeque

195 nuptae. undulata vestis prima e laudatissimis
fuit ; inde sororiculata defluxit. togas rasas Phryxia-
nasque divi Augusti novissimis temporibus coepisse
scribit Fenestella. crebrae papaveratae antiquiorem
habent originem iam ab Lucilio poeta in Torquato
notatae. praetextae apud Etruscos originem inve-
nere. trabeis usos accipio reges ; pictae vestes iam
apud Homerum sunt iis, et inde I triumphales natae.

196 acu facere id Phryges invenerunt, ideoque Phrygio-
niae appellatae sunt. aurum intexere in eadem
Asia invenit Attalus rex, unde nomen Attalicis.
colores diversos picturae intexere Babylon maxume
celebravit et nomen inposuit. plurimis vero liciis
texere quae polymita appellant Alexandria instituit,
scutulis dividere Gallia. Metellus Scipio tricliniaria
Babylonica sestertium octingentis milibus venisse
iam tune ponit in Capitonis 2 criminibus, quae

1 Mayhoff : Homerum fuisse unde.

2 Caesareus : Catonis.

a For the use of poppy-stem fibre mixed with flax in weav-
ing, to give gloss, see XIX 21.

6 Helen embroiders one with battle scenes, Od. 3. 125.

136

BOOK VIII. LXXIV. 194-196

LXXIV. Marcus Varro informs us, on his own
authority, that the wool on the distaff and spindle o
Tanaquil (who was also called Gaia Caecilia) was still <&««£•
preserved in the temple of Sancus ; and also in the
shrine of Fortune a pleated royal robe made by her,
which had been worn by Servius Tullius. Hence
arose the practice that maidens at their marriage were
accompanied by a decorated distaff and a spindle with
thread. Tanaquil first wove a straight tunic of the
kind that novices wear with the plain white toga,
and newly married brides. The pleated robe was
the first among those most in favour ; consequently
the spotted robe went out of fashion. Fenestella
writes that togas of smooth cloth and of Phryxian
wool began in the latest times of the late lamented
Augustus . Togas of closely woven poppy-cloth have a
an older source, being noticed as far back as the poet
Lucilius in the case of Torquatus. Bordered robes
found their origin with the Etruscans. I find it
recorded that striped robes were worn by the kings,
and they had embroidered robes as far back as
Homer,6 these being the origin of those worn in
triumphs. Embroidering with the needle was dis-
covered by the Phrygians, and consequently em-
broidered robes are called Phrygian. Gold em-
broidery was also invented in Asia, by King Attalus,
from whom Attalic robes got their name. Weaving
different colours into a pattern was chiefly brought
into vogue by Babylon, which gave its name to this
process. But the fabric called damask woven with
a number of threads was introduced by Alexandria,
and check patterns by Gaul. Metellus Scipio
counts it among the charges against Capito that
Babylonian coverlets were already then sold for

137

PLINY: NATURAL HISTQBY

Neroni principi quadragiens sestertio nuper stetere.

197 Servi Tulli praetextae quibus signum Fortunae ab
eo dicatae coopertum erat, duravere ad Seiani
exitum, mirumque fuit neque diffluxisse eas neque
teredinum ininrias sensisse annis quingentis sexa-
ginta. vidimus iam et viventium l vellera purpura,
cocco, conchylio, sesquipedalibus libris 2 infect a, velut
ilia sic nasci cogente luxuria.

198 LXXV. In ipsa ove satis generositatis ostenditur
brevitate crurum, ventris vestitu.3 quibus nudus
esset apicas vocabant damnabantque. Syriae cu-
bitales ovium caudae, plurimumque in ea parte
lanicii. castrari agnos nisi quinquemenstres prae-
maturum existimatur.

199 Est in Hispania, sed maxime Corsica, non absimile
pecori genus musmonum caprino villo quam pecoris
velleri propius, quorum e genere et ovibus natos
prisci Umbros vocaverunt, innrmissimum pecori
caput, quamobrem aversum a sole pasci cogendum.
quam stultissima animalium lanata: qua timuere
ingredi, unum cornu raptum sequuntur. vita longis-
sima anni x9 in Aethiopia xin ; capris eodem loco xi,
in reliquo orbe plurimum octoni. utrumque genus
intra quartum coitum impletur.

200 LXXVL Caprae pariunt et quaternos, sed raro
admodum; ferunt v mensibus, ut oves. capri

1 v.l. bidentum,

2 v.L s. labris (sesquilibris Gronovius).

3 vJ. vestitus.

* Over £7000 gold. 6 A.D. 31.

0 A variant gives " even of sheep.*

d The word.s omitted, * with eighteen inch scales ' or
' pounds,' have not been satisfactorily explained or emended.

138

BOOK VIII. LXXIV. 196-Lxxvi, 200

800,000 sesterces/2 which lately cost the Emperor
Nero 4,000,000. The state robes of Servius Tullius,
with which the statue of Fortune dedicated by
him was draped, lasted till the death 6 of Sejamis, and
it was remarkable that they had not rotted away
or suffered damage from moths in 560 years. We
have before now seen the fleeces even of living
animals c dyed with purple, scarlet, crimson . . ./
as though luxury forced them to be born like that.

LXXV. In the sheep itself breed is sufficiently
shown by shortness of the legs and a well-clothed
belly. Sheep with the belly bare used to be called
' misfits ' e and turned down. The sheep of Syria have
tails 18 inches long, and a great deal of wool on that
part. It is considered too soon for lambs to be gelt
unless five months old.

In Spain, but particularly in Corsica, there is an
animal not unlike the sheep, the moufflon, with hair
nearer the goat's than the sheep's; these when
crossed with sheep produce what in old days were
called Umbrians. Sheep are very weak in the
head, and consequently must be made to graze with
their backs to the sun. The fleecy sheep is the
stupidest of animals ; if afraid to go into a place they
will follow one of the flock that is taken by the horn.
Their longest term of life is 10 years, in Ethiopia 13;
goats in Ethiopia live 11 years, but in other parts of
the world at most eight. In breeding with either
kind to couple three times at most is sufficient.

LXXVI. Goats bear as many as four kids at once,
but rather seldom; they carry their young for
5 months, like sheep. He-goats are made sterile by soots.

6 From aTrciKtus, Lewis and Short ; or perhaps more prob-
ably * apicas ' (ITOKOS, weKta) £ without fleece.'

139

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pinguitudine sterilescunt. ante trimos 1 minus uti-
liter generant et in senecta, nee ultra quadriennium.
incipiunt septimo mense et adhuc lact antes, mu-
tilum in utroque sexu utilius. primus in die coitus
non implet, sequens efficacior ac deinde. conci-
piunt Novembri mense ut Martio pariant turgescen-
tibus virgultis, aliquando anniculae, semper bimae,
nisi trimae vix utiles.2 pariunt octonis annis.

201 abortus frigori obnoxius. oculos suffusos capra
iunci punctu sanguine exorierat, caper rubi. soller-
tiam eius animalis Mucianus vis am sibi prodidit,
in ponte praetenui duabus obviis e diverso cum
circumactum angustiae non caperent nee reciproca-
tionem longitudo in exilitate caeca,3 torrente rapido
minaciter subterfluente, alteram decubuisse atque

202 ita alteram proculcatae supergressam. mares quam
maxime simos, longis auribus infractisque, armis
quam villosissimis probant. feminarum generositatis
insigne laciniae corporibus e cervice binae depend-
entes ; non omnibus cornua, sed quibus sunt, in his
et indicia annorum per incrementa nodorum;
mutilis lactis maior ubertas; auribus eas spirare,
non naribus, nee umquam febri carere Archelaus
auctor est; ideo fortassis anima his quam ovibus

203 ardentior calidioresque concubitus. tradunt et
noctu non minus cernere quam interdiu, et ideo,

1 ante trinos annos ? Mayhoff.
55 Maylioff? : bimae, in trimatu inutiles.
3 caecam ? Rackham.
140

BOOK VIII. LXXVI. 200-203

over-fattening. They are not very useful as sires till
three years old, nor in old age, and they do not serve
for more than four years. They begin when six
months old and before they are weaned. Both
sexes breed better with the horns removed. The
first coupling in the day has no result, but the
following and subsequent ones are more effectual.
She-goats conceive in November so as to bear kids
in March when the bushes are budding — yearlings
sometimes and two-year-olds always, but they are
not of much use for breeding unless three years old.
They go on bearing for eight years. They are liable
to miscarriage from cold. A she-goat cures its eyes
when bloodshot by pricking them on a rush, he-goats
on a bramble. Mucianus has described a case of
this animal's cleverness seen by himself — two goats
coming in opposite directions met on a very narrow
bridge, and as the narrow space did not permit them
to turn round and the length did not allow of backing
blindly on the scanty passageway with a rushing
torrent flowing threateningly below, one of them lay
down and so the other one passed over, treading on top
of it. People admire he-goats that are as snub-nosed
as possible, with long drooping ears and extremely
shaggy flanks. It is a mark of good breeding in she-
goats to have two dewlaps hanging down from the
neck ; not all have horns, but in those that have there
are also indications of their years furnished by the
growths of the knobs ; they give more milk when
without horns ; according to Archelaus they breathe
through the ears, not the nostrils, and are never free
from fever : this is perhaps the reason why they are
more high-spirited than sheep and hotter in coupling.
It is said that goats can see by night as well as they

141

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

si caprinum iecur vescantur, restitui vespertinam
aciem iis quos nyctalopas vocant. in Cilicia circaque
Syrtes villo tonsili vestiuntur. capras in occasum
declini sole in pascuis negant contueri inter sese sed
aversas iacere, reliquis autem horis adversas et inter
se cognationes. dependet omnium mento villus

204 quern aruncum vocant. hoc si quis adprehensam ex
grege unam trahat, ceterae stupentes spectant;
id etiam evenit et l cum quandam herbam aliqua
ex eis momorderit. morsus earum arbori est
exitialis ; olivam lambendo quoque sterilem faciunt,
eaque ex causa Minervae non immolantur.

205 LXXVII. Suilli pecoris admissura a favonio ad
aequinoctium vernum, aetas octavo mense, quibus-
dam in locis etiam quarto, usque ad octavum annum,
partus bis in anno, tempus utero quattuor mensum,'
numerus fecunditati ad vicenos, sed educare neque-
unt tarn multos. diebus x circa brumam statim
dentatos nasci Nigidius tradit. implentur uno coitu,
qui et geminatur propter facilitatem aboriendi;
remedium ne prima subatione neque ante flaccidas

206 aures coitus fiat:, mares non ultra trimatum gene-
rant. feminae senectute fessae cubantes coeunt;
comesse fetus in 2 his non est prodigium. suis fetus
sacrificio die quinto purus est, pecoris die vu,
bovis xxx. Coruncanius ruminalis hostias donee

1 Mayhoff: evenire.

2 in add.

142

BOOK VIII. LXXVI. 203-LXxvn. 206

can in the daytime, and that consequently a diet of
goat's liver restores twilight sight to persons suffering
from what is called night-blindness. In Cilicia and
the Syrtes region people wear clothes made of hair
shorn from goats. They say that she-goats in the
pastures when the sun is setting do not look at one
another but lie down with their backs to each other,
though at other times of the day they lie facing each
other and take notice of one another. From the
chin of all goats hangs a tuft of hair called their
beard. If you grasp a she-goat by this and drag her
out of the herd the others look on in amazement ;
this also happens as well when one of them nibbles a
particular plant. Their bite kills a tree ; they make
an olive tree barren even by licking it, and for this
reason they are not offered in sacrifice to Minerva.

LXXVII. Swine are allowed to breed from the
beginning of spring to the vernal equinox, beginning
at seven months old and in some places even at three
months, and continuing to their eighth year. Sows
bear twice a year, carrying their pigs four months :
litters number up to 20, but sows cannot rear so
many. Nigidius states that for ten days at mid-
winter pigs are born with the teeth already grown.
Sows are impregnated by one coupling, which is also
repeated because they are so liable to abortion;
the remedy is not to allow coupling at the first heat
or before the ears are pendulous. Hogs cannot
serve when over three years old. Sows exhausted
by age couple lying down ; it is nothing out of the
way for them to eat their litter. A pig is suitable for
sacrifice four days after birth, a lamb in a week and a
calf in ai month. Coruncamus asserted that ruminant
animals are not acceptable as victims, before they gs&w

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

bidentes fierent pur as negavit. suem oculo amisso
putant cito extingui, alioqui vita ad xv annos, qui-
busdam et vicenos ; verum efferantur, et alias obno-
xium genus morbis, anginae maxime et strumae.

207 index suis invalidae cruor in radice saetae dorso
evolsae, caput obliquom in incessu. paenuriam lac-
tis praepingues sentiunt ; et primo fetu minus sunt
numerosae. in luto volutatio generi grata, intorta
cauda ; id etiam notatum, facilius litare in dexterum
quam in laevum detorta. pinguescunt LX diebus,
sed magis tridui media saginatione orsa. animalium
hoc maxime brutum, animamque ei pro sale datam

208 non inlepide existimabatur. conpertum agnitam
vocem suarii furto abactis, mersoque navigio inclina-
tione lateris unius renasse.1 quin et duces in urbe
forum nundinarium domosque petere discunt; et
feri sapiunt vestigia palude confundere, urina fugam

209 levare. castrantur£feminae|sic quoque uti et cameli
post bidui inediam suspensae pernis prioribus vulva
recisa; celerius ita pinguescunt, adhibetur et ars
iecori feminarum sicut anserum, invent um M.
Apici, fico arida saginatis, a satie necatis repente

1 Hackham: remeasse.

0 The two projecting teeth in the lower jaw which give their
name to the species.

6 To keep it from putrefaction : Cicero N.D. II 160 attri-
butes this to Chrysippus.
144

BOOK VIIL LXXVII. 206-209

their front teeth .a It is thought that a sow that loses
an eye soon dies, but that otherwise sows live to
fifteen and in some cases even twenty years ; but
they become savage, and in any case the breed is
liable to diseases, especially quinsy and scrofula.
Symptoms of bad health in a sow are when blood
is found on the root of a bristle pulled out of its
back and when it holds its head on one side in
walking. If too fat they experience lack of milk;
and they have a smaller number of pigs in their
first litter. The breed likes wallowing in mud.
The tail is curly ; also it has been noticed that it
is easier to kill them for sacrifice when the tail
curls to the right than when to the left. They take
60 days to fatten, but fatten better if feeding up
is preceded by three days' fast. The pig is the
most brutish of animals, and there used to be a
not unattractive idea that its soul was given it to
serve as salt.& It is a known fact that some pigs
carried off by thieves recognized the voice of their
swineherd, crowded to one side of the ship till it
capsized and sank, and swam back to shore. More-
over the leaders of a herd in the city learn to go
to the market place and to find their way home;
and wild hogs know how to obliterate their tracks
by crossing marshy ground, and to r eh* eve them-
selves when running away by making water. Sows
are spayed in the same way as also camels are, by
being hung up by the fore legs after two days
without food and having the matrix cut out; this
makes them fatten quicker. There is also a method
of treating the liver of sows as of geese, a discovery
of Marcus Apicius — they are stuffed with dried fig,
and when full killed directly after having been

T45

VOL. III. I-

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mulsi potu dato. neque alio ex animali numerosior
materia ganeae: quinquaginta prope sapores, cum
ceteris singuli. hinc censoriarum legum paginae,
interdictaque cenis abdomina, glandia, testiculi,
vulvae, sincipita verrina, ut tamen Publi mimorum
poetae cena postquam servitutem exuerat nulla
memoretur sine abdomine, etiam vocabulo suminis
ab eo inposito.

210 LXXVIII. Placuere autem et feri sues, iam
Catonis censoris orationes aprunum exprobrant
callum. in tres tamen partes diviso media pone-
batur, lumbus aprunus appellata. solidum aprum
Romanorum primus in epulis adposuit P. Servilius
Rullus, pater eius Rulli qui Ciceronis in consulatu
legem agrariam promulgavit : tarn propinqua origo
nunc cotidianae rei est; et hoc annales notarunt,
horum scilicet ad emendationem morum, quibus
non tota quidem cena sed in principle bini ternique
pariter manduntur apri.

211 Vivaria eorum ceterarumque silvestrium primus
togati generis invenit Fulvius Lippinus : is x in
Tarquiniensi feras pascere instituit; nee diu imi-
tatores defuere L. Lucullus et Q. Hortensius.

212 Sues ferae semel anno gignunt. maribus in coitu
plurima asperitas ; tune inter se dimicant indurantes

1 is add. ? Mayhoff.
a 184 B.C. & 63 B.C.

146

BOOK VIII. LXXVII, 209-LXxvm. 212

given a drink of mead. Nor does any animal supply
a larger number of materials for an eating-house :
they have almost fifty flavours, whereas all other
meats have one each. Hence pages of sumptuary
laws, and the prohibition of hog's paunches, sweet-
breads, testicles, matrix and cheeks for banquets,
although nevertheless no dinner of the pantomime
writer Publius after he had obtained his freedom is
recorded that did not include paunch — he actually
got from this the nickname of Pig's Paunch.

LXXVIII. But also wild boar has been a popular Boar's meat.
luxury. As far back as Cato the Censor a we find his
speeches denouncing boar's meat bacon. Neverthe-
less a boar used to be cut up into three parts and the
middle part served at table, under the name of boar's
loin. Publius Servilius Rullus, father of the Bullus
who brought in the land settlement act during
Cicero's consulship,6 first served a boar whole at his
banquets — so recent is the origin of what is now an
everyday affair ; and this occurrence has been noted
by historians, presumably for the improvement of
the manners of the present day, when it is the
fashion for two or three boars to be devoured at
one time not even as a whole dinner but as the
first course.

Fulvius Lippinus was the first person of Roman Game-
nationality who invented preserves for wild pigs and Preservcs'
the other kinds of game : he introduced keeping wild
animals in the district of Tarquinii ; and he did not
long lack imitators, Lucius Lucullus and Quintus
Hortensius.

Wild pigs breed once a year. The boars are very
rough when mating; at this period they fight each
other, hardening their flanks by rubbing against

147

L2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

adtritu arborum costas lutoque se a tergo stercor-
antes.1 feminae in partu asperiores, et fere similiter
in omni genere bestiarum. apris maribus nonnisi
anniculis generatio. in India cubit ales dentium
flexus ; gemini ita 2 ex rostro, totidem a fronte ceu
vituli cornua exeunt, pilus aereo similis agrestibus,
ceteris niger. at in Arabia suillum genus non vivit.

213 LXXIX. In nullo alio 3 genere aeque facilis
mixtura cum fero, qualiter natos antiqui hybridas
vocabant ceu semiferos, ad homines quoque ut C.
Antonium Ciceronis in consulatu collegam appella-
tione tralata. non in suibus autem tantum sed in
omnibus quoque animalibus cuiuscumque generis
ullum est placidum eiusdem invenitur et ferum,
utpote cum hominum etiam silvestrium tot genera

214 praedicfca sint. caprae tamen in j>lurimas simili-
tudines transfigurantur : sunt caprae, sunt rupi-
caprae, sunt ibices pernicitatis mirandae, quamquam
onerato capite vastis cornibus gladiorum ceu vaginis ;
in haec se Hbrat ut tormento aliquo rotatus, in
petris 4 potissimum e monte alio 5 in alium transilire
quaerens, atque recusu e pernicius quo libuerit
exult at. sunt et oryges, soli a 7 quibusdam dicti
contrario pilo vestiri et ad caput verso, sunt et
dammae et pygargi et strepsicerotes multaque alia

1 MayJioff : se tergorantes. 2 Mayhoff : gemina.

3 alio add. JRackham. 4 Rackham : petras.

6 Raclckam : aliquo. 6 v.l. recussu.

7 a add. Rackkam.

° 63 B.C.

6 The allusion of his surname Hybrida is uncertain; per-
haps his mother was of foreign descent.
c I.e. the goat, chamois and ibex above.

148

BOOK VIII. LXXVIII. 2i2-LXxix. 214

trees and plastering their behinds with mud. The
females are fiercer when with young, and this is more
or less the same in every kind of wild animal. Male
boars do not mate till one year old. In India they
have curved tusks 18 in. long : two project from the
jaw, and two from the forehead like a calf's horns.
The wild boar's hair is a sort of copper colour ; that
of the other species is black. But the hog genus does
not occur in Arabia.

LXXIX. In the case of no other kind of animal is wm
it so easy to cross with the wild variety ; the offspring
of such unions in old days were called ' hybrids/ species.
meaning half-wild, a term also applied as a nickname
to human beings, for instance, to Cicero's colleague in
the consulship,® Gaius Antonius.& But not only in pigs
but in all animals as well whenever there is any tame
variety of a genus there is also found a wild one of the
same genus, inasmuch as even in the case of man an
equal number of savage races have been predicted
to exist. Nevertheless the formation of the goat is
transferred to a very large number of similar species :
there are the goat, the chamois and the ibex — an
animal of marvellous speed, although its head is
burdened with enormous horns resembling the
sheaths of swords, towards which it sways itself as
though whirled with a sort of catapult, chiefly when
on rocks and seeking to leap from one crag to another,
and by means of the recoil leaps out more nimbly
to the point to which it wants to get. There are
also the oryx, the only species according to certain
authorities clothed with hair lying the wrong way,
towards the head, and the antelope, the white-rumped
antelope, the twisted-horn antelope and a great
many other not dissimilar species. fiut the former0

149

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

haut dissimilia. sed ilia Alpes, haec transmarini
situs mittunt.

215 LXXX. Simiarum quoque genera1 hominis figu-
rae proxima caudis inter se distinguntur. mira
sollertia : visco inungui, laqueisque calciari imita-
tione venantium tradunt, Mucianus et latrunculis
lusisse, fictas cera nuces visu distinguere, lima cava
tristes esse quibus in eo genere cauda sit, novain,
exultatione adorari: nam defectum siderum et

216 ceterae pavent quadripedes. simiarum generi prae-
cipua erga fetum adfectio. gestant catulos quae
mansuefactae intra domes peperere. omnibus demon-
strant tractarique gaudent, gratulationem intelle-
gentibus similes; itaque magna ex parte conplec-
tendo necant. efFeratior cynocephalis natura sicut
mitissima2 satyris. callitriches toto paene aspectu
diiFerunt : barba est in facie, cauda late fusa primori
parte. hoc animal negatur vivere in alio quam
Aethiopiae quo gignitur caelo.

217 LXXXL Et leporum plura sunt genera, in Alpi-
bus candidi quos 3 hibernis mensibus pro cibatu
nivem credunt esse — certe liquescente ea rutilescunt
annis omnibus — et est alioqui animal intolerandi
rigoris alumnum. leporum generis sunt et quos

1 genera <plura> Mayhoff.

2 Edd. : miarsima (v.L om.).

3 Rackham : quibus.

0 Perhaps the cmrang-outang, which comes from Borneo.
J The semnopiihecus, or perhaps the -cercopithecus.

150

BOOK VIII. LXXIX. 214-LXXxi. 217

we receive from the Alps, the latter from places
across the sea.

LXXX. The kinds of apes also which are closest to Varieties of
the human shape are distinguished from each other &uafe"
by the tails. They are marvellously cunning:
people say that they use bird-lime as ointment,
and that they put on the nooses set to snare them as
if they were shoes, in imitation of the hunters;
according to Mucianus the tailed species have even
been known to play at draughts, are able to dis-
tinguish at a glance sham nuts made of wax, and
are depressed by the moon waning and worship the
new moon with delight : and it is a fact that the other
four-footed animals also are frightened by eclipses.
The genus ape has a remarkable affection for its
young. Tame monkeys kept in the house who bear
young ones carry them about and show them to
everybody, and delight in having them stroked,
looking as if they understood that they are being
congratulated; and as a consequence in a consider-
able number of cases they kill their babies by hugging
them. The baboon is of a fiercer nature, just as
the satyrusa is extremely gentle. The pretty-
haired ape 6 is almost entirely different in appear-
ance : it has a bearded face and a tail flattened out
wide at the base. This animal is said to be unable
to live in any other climate but that of its native
country, Ethiopia. •

LXXXI. There are also several kinds of hare. The hare and
In the Alps there are white hares, which are believed theram-
to eat snow for their fodder in the winter months —
at all events they turn a reddish colour every year
when the snow melts — and in other ways the animal
is a nurseling of the intolerable cold. The animals in

151

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Hispania cuniculos appellat, fecunditatis innumerae
famemque Baliarum insulis populatis messibus
adferentes. fetus ventri exectos vel uberibus abla-
tos non repurgatis interaneis gratissimo in cibatu

218 habent : laurices vocant. certum est Baliaricos
adversus proventum eorum auxilium militare a divo
Augusto petisse. magna propter venatum eum
viverris gratia est: iniciunt eas in specus qui sunt
multifores in terra (unde et nomen animali) atque
ita eiectos superne capiunt. Archelaus auctor est
quot sint corporis cavernae ad excrementa lepori
totidem annos esse aetatis: varius certe numerus
reperitur. idem utramque vim singulis inesse ac sine

219 mare aeque gignere. benigna circa hoc natura
innocua et esculenta animalia fecunda generavit.
lepus omnium praedae nascens solus praeter dasypo-
dem superfetat, aliud educans, aliud in utero pilis
vestitum, aliud inplume, aliud inchoatum gerens
pariter. nee non et vestes leporino pilo facere
temptatum est, tactu non perinde molli ut in cute,

220 propter brevitatem pili dilabidas.1

LXXXII. Hi mansuescunt raro, cum feri dici
iure non possint : conplura namque sunt nee placida

1 v.l. dilabidam.

a Beally the etymology is the other way round : cuniculus
is from a Spanish word for ' rabbit,' and from it was formed
cuniculum meaning * burrow,' * tunnel,' or ' mine/

* A variant reading gives * as it is when on the animal's
skin owing to the yielding nature of the short-haired fur,*

BOOK VIII. LXXXI. 217-Lxxxii. 220

Spain called rabbits also belong to the genus hare;
their fertility is beyond counting, and they bring
famine to the Balearic Islands by ravaging the crops.
Their young cut out from the mother before birth or
taken from the teat are considered a very great
delicacy, served without being gutted ; the name for
them is laurex. It is an established fact that the
peoples of the Balearics petitioned the late lamented
Augustus for military assistance against the spread
of these animals. The ferret is extremely popular
for rabbit-hunting; they throw ferrets into the
burrows with a number of exits that the rabbits
tunnel in the ground (this is the derivation of their
name ' cony ' a) and so catch the rabbits when they
are driven out to the surface. Archelaus states that
a hare is as many years old as it has folds in the bowel :
these are certainly found to vary in number. The
same authority says that the hare is a hermaphrodite
and reproduces equally well without a male. Nature
has shown her benevolence in making harmless and
edible breeds of animals prolific. The hare which is
born to be all creatures' prey is the only animal
beside the shaggy-footed rabbit that practises super-
fetation, rearing one leveret while at the same time
carrying in the womb another clothed with hair and
another bald and another still an embryo. Also the
experiment has been made of using the fur of the
hare for making clothes, although it is not so soft to
the touch as it is when on the animal's skin, and the
garments soon come to pieces because of the short-
ness of the hair?

LXXXII. Hares rarely grow tame, although they Haif-
cannot properly be termed wild animals — for in
fact there are a good many creatures that are

153

PUNY: NATURAL HISTORY

nee fera, sed mediae inter utrumque naturae, ut
in volucribus hirundines, apes,1 in mari delphini.

221 quo in genere multi et hos incolas domuum
posuere mures, haut spernenduni in ostentis etiam
publicis animal: adrosis Lanuvi clipeis argenteis
Marsicum portendere bellum, Carboni imperatori
apud Clusium fasceis quibus in calciatu utebatur exi-
tium. plura eorum genera in Cyrenaica regione,
alii lata fronte, alii acuta, alii irenaceorum genere

222 pungentibus pilis. Theophrastus auctor est in
Gyara insula cum incolas fugassent,2 ferrum quoque
rosisse eos, id quod natura quadam et ad Chalybas
facere in ferrariis officinis ; aurariis quidem in metallis
ob hoc alvos eorum excidi semperque furtum id
deprehendi, tantam esse dulcedinem furandi. ve-
nisse murem cc denariis 3 Casilmum obsidente
Hannibale, eumque qui vendidisset 4 fame interisse,

223 emptorem vixisse, annales tradunt, cum candidi
provenere, laetum faciunt ostentum. nam sauricum
occentu dirimi auspicia annales refertos habemus.
saurices et ipsos hi erne condi auctor est Nigidius,
sicut glires, quos censoriae leges princepsque M.
Scaurus in consulatu non alio modo cenis ademere

1 v.l. aper (apri ? RackJiam) in campo.

2 incolae fugissent ? Rackham.

3 denariis add. Budaeus e Val. Max.

4 Ratfcham : vendiderat.

0 A variant gives * swallows, on the plain the boar.*

6 The Social War, 91-88 B.C.

c Carbo was defeated by Sulla at Clusium in Etruria, 82 B.C.
Later in the same year he had to fly to Africa, and was killed
there.

d One of the Cyclades.

* Perhaps to be emended * when the inhabitants had fled,1

Jt On the Black Sea.

BOOK VIII. LXXXII. 220-223

neither wild nor tame but of a character inter-
mediate between each, for instance among winged
things swallows and bees,a in the sea dolphins.
Many people have also placed in this class these
denizens of our homes the mice, a creature not to be
ignored among portents even in regard to public
affairs ; they foretold the war & with the Marsians by
gnawing the silver shields at Lanuvium, and the death
of General Carbo by gnawing at Chiusi c the puttees
that he wore inside his sandals. There are more
varieties of mice in the district of Gyrene, some with
broad and others with pointed heads, and others
like hedgehogs with prickly bristles. Theophrastus
states that on the island of Chiura d when they had
banished the inhabitants e they even gnawed iron,
and that they also do this by a sort of instinct in the
iron foundries in the country of the Chalybes/:
indeed, he says, in gold mines because of this their
bellies get cut away and their theft of gold is always
detected, ff so fond are they of thieving. The Public
Records relate that during the siege h of Casilinum by
Hannibal a mouse was sold for 200 francs, and that
the man who sold it died of hunger while the buyer
lived. The appearance of white mice constitutes a
joyful omen. For we have our Records full of
instances of the auspices being interrupted i by the
squeaking of shrews. Nigidius states that shrews
themselves also hibernate as do dormice, which
sumptuary legislation and Marcus Scaurus the
Head of the State during his consulship fc ruled out

ff Or perhaps 6 their bellies are cut open and some stolen
gold is always found.*

h 216 B.C., after the battle of Cannae.

* I.e. the squeaking during the taking of auspices was a
bad omen. * 115 B.C.

155

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

224 ac 1 conchy lia aut ex alio orbe convectas aves. semi-
ferum et ipsum animal, cui vivaria in doliis idem qui
apris instituit. qua in re notatum non congregare
nisi populares eiusdem silvae et, si misceantur alie-
nigenae amne vel monte discreti, interire dimicando.
genitores suos fessos senecta alunt insigni pietate.
senium finitur hiberna quiete: conditi enim et hi
cubant, rursus aestate iuvenescunt. similis et nitelis
quies est hieme.2

225 LXXXIII. Hie mirum rerum naturam non solum
alia aliis dedisse terris animalia sed in eodem quoque
situ quaedam aliquis locis negasse. in Maesia silva
Italiae non nisi in parte reperiuntur hi glires. in
Lycia dorcades non transeunt montes Sexis vicinos,
onagri limit em qui Cappadociam a Cilicia dividit.
in Hellespont© in alienos fines non commeant cervi,
et circa Arginusam Elaphum montem non excedunt,
auribus etiam in monte fissis. in Pordoselene insula

226 viam mustelae non transeunt. item 3 Boeotiae
Lebadeae inlatae solum ipsum fugiunt quae iuxta in
Orchomeno tota arva subruunt talpae. quarum e
pellibus cubicularia vidimus stragula : adeo ne religio
quidem a portentis submovet delicias. in Ithaca
lepores inlati moriuntur extremis quidem in litori-

1 ac add. Detlefsen.

2 Mayhoff : simili (aut similis) et nitelis quiete.

3 Mayhoff: in.

« See § 211.

b Z.e. the old mice die off during hibernation.
e InBtruria.

d Aristotle Hist. An. 2786 26 cV S£ TO> opet r£> JEAa<£a><
aXov^vo) . . . lAa^ot Traaai TO ovs ecr^tcrju/vat elaiv,
* Between Lesbos and the Asiatic coast.

156

BOOK VIII. LXXXII. 223-LXXXIII. 226

from banquets just as they did shell-fish or birds
imported from other parts of the world. The shrew-
mouse itself also is a half-wild animal, and keeping it
alive in jars was originated by the same person as
started keeping wild pigs.a In this connexion it has
been noticed that shrew-mice do not associate unless
they are natives of the same forest, and if foreigners
separated by a river or mountain are introduced they
die fighting one another. They feed their parents
when exhausted by old age with remarkable affection.
Their old age comes to its end during the winter
repose & — for these creatures also hibernate, and
renew their youth at the coming of summer. Dormice
hibernate similarly.

LXXXIII. In this connexion it is surprising that Local disiri-
Nature has not only assigned different animals to
different countries, but has also denied certain
animals to some places in the same region. In the
Mesian forest c in Italy dormice of which we are now
speaking are only found in one part. In Lycia the
gazelles do not cross the mountains near the Sexi,
nor the wild asses the boundary dividing Cappadocia
from Cilicia. The stags on the Hellespont do not
migrate into unfamiliar districts, and those in the
neighbourhood of Arginusa do not go beyond Mount
Elaphus, even those on the mountain having cleft
ears.^ In the island of Pordoselene * weasels do not
cross a road. Similarly in Boeotia moles that under-
mine the whole of the fields in Orchomenus near by,
when imported into Lebadea are shy of the very soil.
We have seen counterpanes for beds made out of
their skins: so powerless is even superstition to
protect the miraculous against luxury. In Ithaca
imported hares die on the very edge of the shore, as

157

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

bus, in Ebuso cuniculi, scatentibus1 iuxta Hispania

227 Baliaribusque. Cyrenis mutae fuere ranae, inlatis e
continente vocalibus durat genus earum. mutae
sunt etiamnum in Seripho insula, eaedem alio tra-
latae canunt, quod accidere et in lacu Thessaliae
Siccaneo 2 tradunt. in Italia muribus araneis vene-
natus est niorsus ; eosdem ulterior Apennino regio non
habet. iidem ubicumque sunt, orbitam si transiere,
moriuntur. in Olympo Macedoniae monte non sunt

228 lupi nee in Greta insula. ibi quidem nee vulpes ursive
atque omnino nullum maleficum animal praeter
phalangium : in 3 araneis id genus dicemus suo loco,
mirabilius in eadem insula cervos praeterquam in
Cydoneatarum regione non esse, item apros,4 atta-
genas, irenaceos, in Africa autem nee apros nee
cervos nee capreas nee ursos.

229 LXXXIV. lam quaedam animalia indigenis in-
noxia advenas interimunt, sicut serpentes parvi in
Tirynthe quos terra nasci proditur. item in Syria
angues circa Euphratis maxime ripas dormientes
Syros non adtingunt aut, etiamsi calcati momordere,
non sentiuntur malefici,5 aliis cuiuscumque gentis
infesti, avide et cum cruciatu exanimantes, quamo-

1 Mayhoff : scatent.

2 Mayhoff (Adian OVK aevaos) ? : Sicandro.
8 in add. Mayhoff.

4 Rackham : apros et.

158

BOOK VIII. LXXXIII. 226-LXxxiv. 229

do rabbits in Iviza, although Spain and the Balearic
Islands close by are teeming with them, At Cyrene
the frogs were silent, and though croaking frogs have
been imported from the mainland the silent breed
goes on. Frogs are also silent in the island of
Seriphus, but the same frogs croak when removed
to some other place, which is also said to happen in
the Siccanean Lake in Thessaly. The bite of the
shrew-mouse in Italy is venomous, but the venomous
species is not found in the district beyond the
Apennines. Also wherever it occurs it dies if it
crosses the track of a wheel. There are no wolves on
Mount Olympus in Macedon, nor in the island of
Crete. In fact in Crete there are no wolves or bears
cither, and no noxious animal at all except a poisonous
spider : we shall speak of this species in its place,a
under the head of spiders. It is more remarkable
that in the same island there are no stags except in
the district of Cydonea, and the same is the case with
wild boars and francolins and hedgehogs, while in
Africa there are neither wild boars nor stags nor wild
goats nor bears.

LXXXIV. Again, some animals harmless to natives Sped
of the country are deadly to foreigners, for instance
some small snakes at Tiryns that are said to be bom
from the earth. Similarly serpents in Syria specially
found about the banks of the Euphrates do not touch
Syrians when asleep, or even if they bite them when
trodden on are not felt to cause any evil effect, but
they are maleficent to other people of whatever race,
killing them voraciously and with torturing pain, on

a XI 79, XVIII 156.
5 Mayhoff: maleficia.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

brem et Syri non nee ant eos. contra in Latmo
Cariae monte Aristoteles tradit a scorpionibus hos-
pites non laedi, indigenas interim!.

Sed reliquorum quoque animalium [et praeterea x]
terrestrium dicemus genera.

1 Sed. Jan.

160

BOOK VIII. LXXXIV. 229

account of which the Syrians also do not kill them.
On the other hand Aristotle a relates that the
scorpions on Mount Latmos in Caria do not wound
strangers but kill natives.

But we will also speak of the remaining kinds of
land animals.

a Fr. 605 Rose.

161

VOL. III. M

BOOK IX

LIBER IX

1 I. ANIMALIUM quae terrestria appellavimus ho-
minum quadam consortione degentia indicata
natura est. ex reliquis minimas esse volucres con-
venit. quamobrem prius aequorum amnium stag-
norumque dicentur.

2 Sunt autem complura in his maiora etiam terrestri-
bus. causa evidens umoris luxuria. alia sors alitum
quibus vita pendentibus. in mari autem tarn late
supino mollique ac fertili nutrimento, accipiente
causas genitales e sublimi semperque pariente natura,
pleraque etiam monstrifica reperiuntur perplexis et
in semet aliter atque aliter nunc flatu nunc fluctu
convolutis seminibus atque principiis, vera ut fiat
vulgi opinio quicquid nascatur in parte naturae ulla
et in mari esse, praeterque multa quae nusquam

3 alibi, rerum quidem, non solum animalium, simu-
lacra inesse licet intellegere intuentibus uvam,
gladium, serram,1 cucumin vero et colore et odore
similem; quo minus miremur equorum capita in
tarn parvis eminere cocleis.

1 Ractiham i serras.
164

BOOK IX

I. WE have indicated the nature of the species that zoology
we have designated land animals, as living in some §J!J^ ~~
kind of association with men. Of the remaining kinds animals.
it is agreed that birds are the smallest. We will
therefore first speak of the creatures of the seas,
rivers and ponds.

There are however a considerable number of these Remarkable
that are larger even than land animals. The
obvious cause of this is the lavish nature of liquid,
Birds, which live hovering in the air, are in a different
condition: But in the sea, lying so widely outspread
and so yielding and productive of nutriment, because
the element receives generative causes from above
and is always producing offspring, a great many
actual monstrosities are found, the seeds and first
principles intertwining and interfolding with each
other now in one way and now in another, now by the
action of the wind and now by that of the waves, so
ratifying the common opinion that everything born
in any department of nature exists also in the sea,
as well as a number of things never found elsewhere.
Indeed we may realize that it contains likenesses of
things and not of animals only, when we examine the
grape, the sword-fish, the saw-fish, and the cucumber-
fish, the last resembling a real cucumber both in
colour and scent ; which makes it le$s surprising that
in cockle-shells that are so tiny there are horses'
heads projecting.

3=65

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

4 II. Plurima autem et maxima animalia in Indico
mari, ex quibus ballaenae quaternum iugerum, pristes
ducenum cubitorum, quippe ubi locustae quaterna
cubita impleant, anguillae quoque in Gange amne

5 tricenos pedes. sed in mari beluae circa solstitia
maxime visuntur. tune illic ruunt turbines, tune
imbres, tune deiectae montium iugis procellae ab
imo vertunt maria pulsatasque ex profundo beluas
cum fluctibus volvunt tanta, ut x alias thynnorum,
multitudine, ut Magni Alexandri classis haut alio
modo quam hostium acie obvia contrarium agmen
adversa front e direxerit : aliter [sparsis] 2 non erat
evadere. non voce, non sonitu non fragore sed

6 ictu 3 terrentur, nee nisi ruina turbantur. Cadara
appellatur Rubri Maris paeninsula ingens; huius
obiectu vastus efficitur sinus xn dierum et noctium
remigio enavigatus Ptolomaeo regi, quando nullius
aurae recipit afflatum. huius loci quiete praecipue 4
ad immobilem magnitudinem beluae adolescunt.

7 Gedrosos qui Arabim amnem accolunt Alexandri
Magni classium praefecti prodiderunt in domibus
fores maxillis beluarum facere, ossibus tecta contig-
nare3 ex quibus multa quadragenum cubitorum
longitudinis reperta. exeunt et pecori similes

1 Mueller : volvunt et alias tanta.

2 sparsis an delendum^ ? Mueller.

3 sic ? Mueller : non ictu sed fragore.
* v.l. praecipua.

0 The iuger was about two-thirds of an English acre, the
cukitus or ell about 1£ ft.

b This sailed from, the Indus to the Euphrates, as recorded,
with all the details given above, by Arrian, Indica 21-42.

0 The MS. text inserts an explanatory gloss ' by dispersing.'

166

BOOK IX. ii. 4-7

II. But the largest number of animals and those whales,
of the largest size are in the Indian sea, among them St^f
whales covering three acres each, and sharks 100 ells lar^e ^*c«».
longa : in fact in those regions lobsters grow to 6 ft.
long, and also eels in the river Ganges to 300 ft. The
monsters in the sea are mostly to be seen about
the solstices. At those periods in that part of the
world there are rushing whirlwinds and rain-storms
and tempests hurtling down from the mountain
ridges that upturn the seas from their bottom, and
roll with their waves monsters forced up from the
depths in such a multitude, like the shoals of tunnies
in other places, that the fleet 6 of Alexander the Great
deployed its column in line of battle to encounter
them, in the same way as if an enemy force were
meeting it: it was not possible to escape them in
any other manner .c They are not scared by shouts or
noises or uproar, but only by impact, and they are
only routed by a violent collision. There is an
enormous peninsula in the Red Sea called Cadara,
the projection of which forms a vast bay which took
King Ptolemy twelve days and nights of rowing to
cross, as it does not admit a breath of wind from any
quarter. In this tranquil retreat particularly the
creatures grow to a huge motionless bulk. The
admirals d of the fleets of Alexander the Great have
stated that the Gedrosi e who live by the river Arabis/
make the doorways in their houses out of the
monsters' jaws and use their bones for roof-beams,
many of them having been found that were 60 ft.
long. Also great creatures resembling sheep come

* Nearchus and Onesicritus.

' The inhabitants of the modern Mafcran.

* Either the Purali or the Habh.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

beluae ibi in terram pastaeque radices fruticum
remeant ; et quaedam equorum, asinorum, taurorum
capitibus quae depascuntur sata.

8 III. Maximum animal in Indico mari pristis et
ballaena est, in Gallico oceano physeter ingentis
columnae modo se attollens altiorque navium velis
diluviem quandam eructans, in Gaditano oceano arbor
in tantum vastis dispansa ramis ut ex ea causa fre-
tum numquam intrasse credatur. apparent et rotae
appellatae a similitudine, quaternis distinctae hae
radiis, modiolos earum oculis duobus utrimque
claudentibus.

9 IV. Tiberio principi nuntiavit Olisiponensium
legatio ob id missa visum auditumque in quodam
specu concha canentem Tritonem qua noscitur
forma, et Nereidum falsa non est, squamis modo
hispido corpore etiam qua humanam effigiem ha-
bent; namque haec in eodem spectata litore est,
cuius morientis etiam cantum tristem accolae
audivere longe; et divo Augusto legatus Galliae
complures in litore apparere exanimes Nereidas

10 scripsit. Auctores habeo in equestri ordine splend-
entes visum ab his in Gaditano oceano marinum hom-
inem toto corpore absoluta similitudine ; ascendere
eum navigia nocturnis temporibus statimque degra-
168

BOOK IX. XL 7-rv, 10

out on to the land in that country and after grazing
on the roots of bushes return ; and there are some with
the heads of horses, asses and bulls that eat up the
crops.

III. The largest animals in the Indian Ocean are
the shark and the whale ; the largest in the Bay of
Biscay is the sperm-whale, which rears up like a
vast pillar higher than a ship's rigging and belches
out a sort of deluge ; the largest in the Gulf of Cadiz
is the tree-polypus, which spreads out such vast
branches that it is believed never to have entered the
Straits of Gibraltar because of this. The creatures
called Wheels from their resemblance to a wheel
also put in an appearance, these radiating in four
spokes, with their nave terminating in two eyes, one
on each side.

IV. An embassy from Lisbon sent for the purpose Tntons,
reported to the Emperor Tiberius that a Triton had ^£
been seen and heard playing on a shell in a certain monsters.
cave, and that he had the well-known shape. The
description of the Nereids also is not incorrect, except

that their body is bristling with hair even in the
parts where they have human shape ; for a Nereid
has been seen on the same coast, whose mournful
song moreover when dying has been heard a long
way off by the coast-dwellers ; also the Governor of
Gaul wrote to the late lamented Augustus that a large
number of dead Nereids were to be seen on the shore.
I have distinguished members of the Order of Knight-
hood as authorities for the statement that a man of the
sea has been seen by them in the Gulf of Cadiz, with
complete resemblance to a human being in every
part of his body, and that he climbs on board ships
during the hours of the night and the side of the

169

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vari quas insederit partes et, si diutius permaneat>
etiam mergi. Tiberio principe contra Lugdunensis
provinciae litus in insula simul trecentas amplius
beluas reciprocans destituit oceanus mirae varietatis
et magnitudinis, nee pauciores in Santonum litore
interque reliquas elephantos et arietes candore 1
tantum cornibus adsimulatis, Nereidas vero multas.

11 Turranius prodidit expulsam beluam in Gaditano
litore cuius inter duas pinnas ultimae caudae cubita
sedecim fuissent, dentes eiusdem cxx, maximi
dodrantium mensura, minimi semipedum. beluae
cui dicebatur exposita fuisse Andromeda ossa
Romae apportata ex oppido ludaeae loppe ostendit
inter reliqua miracula in aedilitate sua M. Scaur us
longitudine pedum XL, altitudine costarum Indicos
elephantos excedente, spinae crassitudine sesqui-
pedali.

12 V. Balaenae et in nostra maria^ penetrant. in
Gaditano oceano non ante brumarrx conspici eas
tradunt, condi autem aestatis temporibus in quodam
sinu placido et capaci, mire gaudentes ibi parere;
hoc scire orcas, infestam iis beluam et cuius imago
nulla repraesentatione exprimi possit alia quam

13 carnis immensae dentibus truculentae. inrumpunt
ergo in secreta ac vitulos earum aut fetas vel etiam-
num gravidas lancinant morsu, incursuque ceu
Liburnicarum rostris fodiunt. illae ad flexum im-
mobiles, ad repugnandum inertes et pondere suo
oneratae, tune quidem et utero graves pariendive

1 v.l. tumore.

0 Emperor A.D. 14-37.

6 Aedile 58 B.C., son of M. Scaurus mentioned VIII 223.

170

BOOK IX. iv. io-v. 13

vessel that he sits on is at once weighed down, and
if he stays there longer actually goes below the
water. During the rule of Tiberius ,a in an island off
the coast of the province of Lyons the receding ocean
tide left more than 300 monsters at the same time, of
marvellous variety and size, and an equal number on
the coast of Saintes, and among the rest elephants,
and rams with only a white streak to resemble horns,
and also many Nereids. Turranius has stated that a
monster was cast ashore on the coast at Cadiz that
had 24 feet of tail-end between its two fins, and also
120 teeth, the biggest 9 inches and the smallest
6 inches long. The skeleton of the monster to which
Andromeda in the story was exposed was brought by
Marcus Scaurus b from the town of Jaffa in Judaea
and shown at Rome among the rest of the marvels
during his aedileship ; it was 40 ft. long, the height of
the ribs exceeding the elephants of India, and the
spine being 1 ft. 6 inches thick.

V. Whales even penetrate into our seas. It is
said that they are not seen in the Gulf of Cadiz before
midwinter, but during the summer periods hide in a
certain calm and spacious inlet, and take marvellous
delight in breeding there ; and that this is known to
the killer whale, a creature that is the enemy of the
other species and the appearance of which can be
represented by no other description except that of an
enormous mass of flesh with savage teeth. The killer
whales therefore burst into their retreats and bite and
mangle their calves or the females that have calved
or are still in calf, and charge and pierce them like
warships ramming. The whales being sluggish in
bending and slow in retaliating, and burdened by
their weight, and at this season also heavy with young

171

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

poenis invalidae, solum auxilium novere in altum
profugere et se tuto 1 defendere oceano. contra
occurrere laborant seseque opponere et caveatas
angustiis trucidare, in vada urguere, saxis inlidere.
spectantur ea proelia ceu mari ipsi sibi irato, nullis in
sinu ventis, fluctibus vero ad anhelitus ictusque

14 quantos nulli turbines volvant. orca et in portu
Ostiensi visa est oppugnata a Claudio principe;
venerat turn exaedificante eo portum invitata nau-
fragiis tergorum advectorum e Gallia, satiansque se
per coniplures dies alveum in vado sulcaverat attumu-
lata fluctibus in tantum ut circumagi nullo modo
posset et, dum saginam persequitur in litus fluctibus
propulsam, emineret dorso multum supra aquas

15 carinae vice inversae. praetendi iussit Caesar plagas
multiplices inter ora portus, profectusque ipse cum
praetorianis cohortibus populo Romano spectaculum
praebuit lanceas congerente milite e navigiis adsul-
tantibus, quorum unum mergi vidimus reflatu beluae
oppletum unda.

16 VI. Ora ballaenae habent in frontibus, ideoque
summa aqua natantes in sublime nimbos efflant.
spirant autem confessione omnium et paucissima alia

1 MayJioff : tute aut toto.

a This is unlikely j it was probably a cachalot.
6 Emperor A.B. 41-54.
172

BOOK IX. v. i3-vi. 16

or weakened by travail in giving birth, know only
one refuge, to retreat to the deep sea and defend
their safety by means of the ocean. Against this the
killer whales use every effort to confront them and get
in their way, and to slaughter them when cooped up
in narrow straits or drive them into shallows and
make them dash themselves upon rocks. To
spectators these battles look as if the sea were
raging against itself, as no winds are blowing in the
gulf, but there are waves caused by the whales blow-
ing and thrashing that are larger than those aroused
by any whirlwinds. A killer whale was actually seen Gram?™ m
in the harbour of Ostia * in battle with the Emperor Jjjjjj
Claudius l \ it had come at the time when he was en-
gaged in completing the structure of the harbour,
being tempted by the wreck of a cargo of hides im-
ported from Gaul, and in glutting itself for a number
of days had furrowed a hollow in the shallow bottom
and had been banked up with sand by the waves so
high that it was quite unable to turn round} and
while it was pursuing its food which was driven
forward to the shore by the waves its back pro-
jected far above the water like a capsized boat.
Caesar gave orders for a barrier of nets to be stretched
between the mouths of the harbour and setting out in
person with the praetorian cohorts afforded a show to
the Roman public, the soldiery hurling lances from
the vessels against the creatures when they leapt up
alongside, and we saw one of the boats sunk from being
filled with water owing to a beast's snorting.

VI. Whales have their mouths in their foreheads, IT*
and consequently when swimming on the surface of
the water they blow -clouds of spray into the air.
It is universally admitted that a very few other

173

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in mari quae internorum viscerum pulmonem
habent, quoniam sine eo spirare animal nullum
putatur. nee piscium branchias habentes anhelitum
reddere ac per vices recipere existimant quorum haec
opinio est, nee multa alia genera etiam branchiis
carentia, in qua sententia fuisse Aristotelem video et

17 multis persuasisse doctrinae indaginibus.1 nee me
protinus huic opinioni eorum accedere haut dissimuloj
quoniam et pulmonum vice alia possint spirabilia
inesse viscera ita volente natura, sicut et pro san-
guine est multis alius umor. in aquas quidem pene-
trare vitalem hunc halitum quis miretur qui etiam
reddi ab his eurn cernat et is terras quoque tanto
spissiorem naturae partem penetrare argumento
animalium quae semper defossa vivunt, ceu talpae ?

18 accedunt apud me certe efficacia ut credam etiam
omnia in aquis spirare naturae suae sorte, primum
adnotata piscium aestivo calore quaedam anhelatio
et alia tranquillo velut oscitatio, ipsorum quoque qui
sunt in adversa opinione de somno piscium confessio,
— quis enim sine respiratione somno locus ? —
praeterea bullantium aquarum sufflatio lunaeque
effectu concharum quoque corpora augescentia.
super omnia est quod esse auditum et odoratum
piscibus non erit dubium, ex aeris utrumque materia :

1 doctrina insignibus Urlichs*

a Hist, An. VIII 2 init.

fi A conjectural variant gives * and caused to be accepted by
many distinguished savants.9

0 Pliny's judgement is confirmed by modern science.

174

BOOK IX. vi. 16-18

creatures in the sea also breathe, those whose
internal organs include a lung, since it is thought that
no animal is able to breathe without one. Those
who hold this opinion believe that the fishes possess-
ing gills do not alternately expire and inspire air,
and that many other classes even lacking gills do not
— an opinion which I notice that Aristotle a held and
supported by many learned researches.6 Nor do I
pretend that I do not myself immediately accept this
view of theirs ,c since it is possible that animals may
also possess other respiratory organs in place of
lungs, if nature so wills, just as also many possess
another fluid instead of blood. At all events who
can be surprised that this life-giving breath pene-
trates into water if he observes that it is also given
back again from the water, and that it also pene-
trates into the earth, that much denser element, as is
proved by animals that live always in underground
burrows, like moles? Undoubtedly to my mind
there are additional facts that make me believe
that in fact all creatures in the water breathe, owing
to the condition of their own nature — in the first
place a sort of panting that has often been noticed in
fishes during the summer heat, and another form of
gasping, so to speak, in calm weather, and also the
admission in regard to fishes sleeping made even by
those persons who are of the opposite opinion — for
how can sleep occur without breathing ? — and more-
over the bubbles caused on the surface of the water
by air rising from below, and the effect of the moon
in causing the bodies even of shellfish to increase in
size. Above all there is the fact that it will not be
doubted that fish have the sense of hearing and smell,
both of which are derived from the substance of air :

175

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

odorem quidem non aliud quam infectum aera
intellegi possit. quamobrem de his opinetur ut

19 cuique libitum erit. branchiae non sunt ballaenis,
nee delphinis. haec duo genera fistula spirant quae
ad pulmonem pertineat 19 ballaenis a front e, delphinis
a dorso. et vituli marini, quos vocant phocas,
spirant ac dormiunt in terra, item testudines, de
quibus mox plura.

20 VII. Velocissimum omnium animalium, non solum
marinorum, est delphinus ocior volucre, acrior telo,
ac nisi multum infra rostrum os illi foret medio
paene in ventre, nullus piscium celeritatem eius
evaderet. sed adfert moram providentia naturae,
quia nisi resupini atque conversi non corripiunt.
quae causa praecipue velocitatem eorum ostendit:
nam cum fame conciti fugientem in vada ima perse-
cuti piscem diutius spiritum continuere ut arcu
missi ad respirandum emicant, tantaque vi exsiliunt

21 ut plerumque vela navium transvolent. vagantur
fere coniugia, pariunt catulos decimo mense aestivo
tempore, interim et binos. nutriunt uberibus, sicut
ballaena, atque etiam gestant fetus infantia infirmos ;
quin et adultos diu comitantur magna erga partum

22 caritate. adolescunt celeriter, x annis putantur
ad summam magnitudinem pervenire. vivunt et
tricenis, quod cognitum praecisa cauda in experi-
mentum. abduntur tricenis diebus circa canis

1 MayJioff: fistulae (-is edd.) . . . spirant.

0 Of. VIII 86.
I76

BOOK IX. vi. i8-vn. 22

scent indeed could not possibly be interpreted as
anything else than an infection of the air. Con-
sequently it is open to every person to form what-
ever opinion about these matters he pleases. Whales
do not possess gills, nor do dolphins. These two
genera breathe with a tube that passes to the lung,
in the case of whales from the forehead and in the
case of dolphins from the back. Also sea-calves,
called seals, breathe and sleep on land, as also do
tortoises, about whom more shortly.

VII. The swiftest of all animals, not only those of ne dolphin.
the sea, is the dolphin ; it is swifter than a bird and
darts faster than a javelin, and were not its mouth
much below its snout, almost in the middle of its belly,
not a single fish would escape its speed. But nature's
foresight contributes delay, because they cannot
seize their prey except by turning over on their backs.
This fact especially shows their speed; for when
spurred by hunger they have chased a fleeing fish into
the lowest depths and have held their breath too
long, they shoot up like arrows from a bow in order
to breathe again, and leap out of the water with
such force that they often fly over a ship's sails.
They usually roam about in couples, husband and
wife ; a they bear cubs after nine months, in the
summer season, occasionally even twins. They
suckle their young, as do whales, and even carry
them about while weak from infancy ; indeed they
accompany them for a long time even when grown
up, so great is their affection for their offspring.
They grow up quickly, and are believed to reach their
full stee in 10 years. They live as much as 30 years,
as has been ascertained by amputating the tail of a
specimen for an experiment. They are in retirement

177

VOL. III. N

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ortum occultanturque incognito niodo, quod eo
magis mirum est si spirare in aqua non queunt.
solent in terram erumpere incerta de causa, nee
statim tellure tacta moriuntur, multoque ocius

23 fistula clausa. lingua est is contra naturam aqua-
tilium mobilis, brevis atque lata, haut difFerens
suillae. pro voce gemitus humano similis, dorsum
repandum, rostrum simum: qua de causa nomen
sirnonis omnes miro modo agnoscunt maluntque ita
appellari.

24 VIII. Delphinus non homini tantum amicum
animal verum et musicae arti, mulcetur symphoniae
cantu set praecipue hydrauli sono. hominem non
expavescit ut alienum, obviam navigiis venit, adludit
exultans, certat etiam et quamvis plena praeterit

25 vela, divo Augusto principe Lucrinum lacum
invectus pauperis cuiusdam puerum ex Baiano
Puteolos in luduna litter arium itantem, cum meridiano
immorans appellatum eum simonis nomine saepius
fragmentis panis quern ob iter ferebat adlexisset,
miro amore dilexit — pigeret referre ni res Maecenatis
et Fabiani et Flavi Alfii multorumque esset litteris
mandata, — ^quocumque diei tempore inclamatus a
puero quamvis occultus atque abditus ex imo advola-

BOOK IX. vii. 22-vin. 25

for 30 days about the rising of the dog-star and hide
themselves in an unknown manner, which is the more
surprising in view of the fact that they cannot breathe
under water. They have a habit of sallying out on
to the land for an unascertained reason, and they do
not die at once after touching earth — in fact they die
much more quickly if the gullet is closed up. The
dolphin's tongue, unlike the usual structure of
aquatic animals, is mobile, and is short and broad,
not unlike a pig's tongue. For a voice they have a
moan like that of a human being; their back is
arched, and their snout turned up, owing to which all
of them in a surprising manner answer to the name of
' Snubnose ' and like it better than any other.

VIII. The dolphin is an animal that is not only The dolphin
friendly to mankind but is also a lover of music,
and it can be charmed by singing in harmony, but
particularly by the sound of the water-organ. It is
not afraid of a human being as something strange to
it, but comes to meet vessels at sea and sports and
gambols round them, actually trying to race them and
passing them even when under full sail. In the reign casesoftame
of the late lamented Augustus a dolphin that had been
brought into the Lucrine Lake fell marvellously in love
with a certain boy, a poor man's son, who used to go
from the Baiae district to school at Pozzuoli, because
fairly often the lad when loitering about the place at
noon called him to him by the name of Snubnose and
coaxed him with bits of the bread he had with him
for the journey, — I should be ashamed to tell the
story were it not that it has been written about by
Maecenas and Fabianus and Flavius Alfius and
many others, — and when the boy called to it at what-
ever time of day, although it was concealed in hiding

179

N2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

bat pastusque e manu praebebat ascensuro dorsum,
pinnae aculeos velut vagina con(fens, receptumque
Puteolos per magnum aequor in ludum ferebat simili
modo revehens pluribus annis, donee morbo extincto
puero subinde ad consuetum locum ventitans tristis
et maerenti similis ipse quoque, quod nemo dubitaret,

26 desiderio expiravit. alius intra hos annos Africo litore
Hipponis Diarruti simili modo ex hominum manu
vescens praebensque se tractandum et adludens
nantibus impositosque portans unguento perunctus
a Flaviano proconsule Africae et sopitus, ut apparuit,
odoris novitate fluctuatusque similis exanimi caruit
hominum conversatione ut iniuria fugatus per aliquot
menses ; mox reversus in eodem miraculo fuit.
iniuriae potestatum in hospitales ad visendum venie-
tium Hipponenses in necem eius compulerunt,

27 ante haec similia de puero in laso urbe memorantur,
cuius amore spectatus longo tempore, dum abeuntem
in litus avide sequitur, in harenam invectus expiravit ;
puerum Alexander Magnus Babylone Neptunio
sacerdotio praefecit, amorem ilium numinis propitii
fuisse interpretatus. in eadem urbe laso Hegeside-
mus scribit et alium puerum Hermian nomine similiter
maria perequitantem, cum repentinae procellae
fluctibus exanimatus esset, relatum, delphinumque

180

BOOK IX. vin. 25-27

it used to fly to him out of the depth, eat out of his
hand, and let him mount on its back, sheathing as it
were the prickles of its fin, and used to carry him when
mounted right across the bay to Pozzuoli to school,
bringing him back in similar manner, for several years,
until the boy died of disease, and then it used to keep
coming sorrowfully and like a mourner to the
customary place, and itself also expired, quite un-
doubtedly from longing. Another dolphin in recent
years at Hippo Diarrhytus on the coast of Africa
similarly used to feed out of people's hands and allow
itself to be stroked, and play with swimmers and
carry them on its back. The Governor of Africa,
Flavianus, smeared it all over with perfume, and
the novelty of the scent apparently put it to
sleep : it floated lifelessly^ about, holding aloof from
human intercourse for some months as if it had
been driven away by the insult ; but afterwards it
returned and was an object of wonder as before.
The expense caused to their hosts by persons of
official position who came to see it forced the people
of Hippo to destroy it. Before these occurrences a
similar story is told about a boy in the city of
lasus, with whom a dolphin was observed for a long
time to be in love, and while eagerly following him
to the shore when he was going away it grounded on
the sand and expired ; Alexander the Great made the
boy head of the priesthood of Poseidon at Babylon,
interpreting the dolphin's affection as a sign of the
deity's favour. Hegesidemus writes that in the same
city of lasus another boy also, named Hermias, while
riding across the sea in the sam<$ manner lost his life
in the waves of a sudden storm, but was brought back
to the shore, and the dolphin confessing itself the

181

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

causam se 1 leti fatentem non reversum in maria
atque in sicco expirasse. hoc idem et Naupacti

28 accidisse Theophrastus tradit. nee modus exem-
plorum: eadem Amphilochi et Tarentini de pueris
delphinisque narrant ; quae faciunt ut credatur
Arionem quoque citharoedicae artis, interficere
nautis in mari parantibus ad intercipiendos eius
quaestus, eblanditum uti prius caneret cithara,
congregatis cantu delphinis, cum se iecisset in mare
exceptum ab uno Taenarum in litus pervectum.

29 IX. Est provinciae Narbonensis et in Nemausiensi
agro stagnum Later a appellatum ubi cum homine
delphini societate piscantur. innumera vis mugilum
stato temp ore angustis faucibus stagni in mare
erumpit observata aestus reciprocatione, qua de
causa praetendi non queunt retia, aeque molem
ponderis nullo modo toleratura2 etiamsi non sollertia
insidiaretur 3 tempori. simili ratione in altum
protinus tendunt quod vicino gurgite efficitur,
locumque solum pandendis retibus habilem ejfFugere

30 festinant. quod ubi animadvertere piscantes, —
concurrit autem multitudo temporis gnara et magis
etiam voluptatis huius avida, — totusque populus e
litore quanto potest clamore conciet simonem in
spectaculi eventum, celeriter delphini exaudiunt
desideria aquilonum flatu vocem prosequente, austro

182

1 causam se ? Mayhoff : causa.

2 v.ll tolleretur, tplletur.
a JZackham : insidietur.

BOOK IX. vm. 27-ix. 30

cause of his death did not return out to sea and
expired on dry land. Theophrastus records that
exactly the same thing occurred at Naupactus too.
Indeed there are unlimited instances : the people of
Amphilochus and Taranto tell the same stories about
boys and dolphins ; and these make it credible that
also the skilled harper Arion, when at sea the sailors
were getting ready to kill him with the intention of
stealing the money he had made, succeeded in
coaxing them to let him first play a tune on his harp,
and the music attracted a school of dolphins, where-
upon he dived into the sea and was taken up by one of
them and carried ashore at Cape Matapan.

IX. In the region of Nismes in the Province
Narbonne there is a marsh named Latera where fishermen.
dolphins catch fish in partnership with a human
fisherman. At a regular season a countless shoal of
mullet rushes out of the narrow mouth of the marsh
into the sea, after watching for the turn of the tide,
which makes it impossible for nets to be spread across
the channel — indeed the nets would be equally
incapable of standing the mass of the weight even if
the craft of the fish did not watch for the opportunity.
For a similar reason they make straight out into the
deep water produced by the neighbouring eddies,
and hasten to escape from the only place suitable for
setting nets. When this is observed by the fisher-
men— and a crowd collects at the place, as they know
the time, and even more because of their keenness
for this sport — and when the entire population from
the shore shouts as loud as it can, calling for ' Snub-
nose ' for the denouement of the show, the dolphins
quickly hear their wishes if a northerly breeze carries
the shout out to sea, though if the wind is in the

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vero tardius ex adverse referente ; sed turn quoque

31 inproviso in auxilium advolare properant.1 apparet
acies quae protinus disponitur in loco ubi coniectus
est pugnae ; opponunt sese ab alto trepidosque in
vada urguent. turn piscatores circumdant retia
furcisque sublevant. mugilum nihilominus velocitas
transilit; at illos excipiunt delphini et occidisse ad

32 praesens content! cibos in victoriam differunt. op ere
proelium fervet includique retibus se fortissime
urguentes gaudent ac, ne id ipsum fugam hostium
stimulet, inter navigia et retia nantesve homines ita
sensim elabuntur ut exitus non aperiant; saltu,
quod est alias blandissimumi is, nullus conatur
evadere, ni summittantur sibi retia. egressus
protinus ante vallum proeliatur. ita peracta captura
quos interemere diripiunt. sed enixioris operae
quam in unius diei praemium conscii sibi opperiuntur
in posterum, nee piscibus tantum sed et intrita panis
e vino satiantur.

33 X. Quae de eodem genere piscandi in lasio sinu
Mucianus tradit hoc differunt, quod ultro neque
inclamati praesto sint partesque e manibus accipiant
et suum quaeque cumba e delphinis socium habeat

1 Mueller : aduolajilj properare aut aduolant propere.
184

BOOK IX. ix, 3o-x. 33

south, against the sound, it carries it more slowly ;
but then too they suddenly hasten to the spot, in
order to give their aid. Their line of battle comes
into view, and at once deploys in the place where
they are to join battle ; they bar the passage on the
side of the sea and drive the scared mullet into the
shallows. Then the fishermen put their nets round
them and lift them out of the water with forks.
None the less the pace of some mullets leaps
over the obstacles ; but these are caught by the
dolphins, which are satisfied for the time being with
merely having killed them, postponing a meal till
victory is won. The action is hotly contested, and
the dolphins pressing on with the greatest bravery are
delighted to be caught in the nets, and for fear that
this itself may hasten the enemy's flight, they glide
out between the boats and the nets or the swimming
fishermen so gradually as not to open ways of escape ;
none of them try to get away by leaping out of
the water, which otherwise they are very fond of
doing, unless the nets are put below them. One that
gets out thereupon carries on the battle in front
of the rampart. When in this way the catch has
been completed they tear in pieces the fish that
they have killed. But as they are aware that they
have had too strenuous a task for only a single day's
pay they wait there till the following day, and are
given a feed of bread mash dipped in wine, in addition
to the fish.

X. Mucianus's account of the same kind of fishing o«fer «w«f
in the lasian Gulf differs in this— the dolphins stand
by of their own accord and without being summoned
by a shout, and receive their share from the fisher-
men's hands, and each boat has one of the dolphins

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quamvis noctu et ad faces, ipsis quoque inter se
publica est societas : capto a rege Cariae alligatoque
in portu ingens reliquorum convenit multitude
maestitia quadam quae posset intellegi miserationem
petens, donee dimitti rex eum iussit. quin et parvos
semper aliquis grandior comitatur ut custos; con-
spectique iam sunt defunctum portantes, ne lacerare-
tur a beluis.

34 XI. Delphinorum similitudinem habent qui vocan-
tur thursiones (distant et tristitia quadam aspectus,
abest enim ilia lascivia), maxime tamen rostris
canicularum maleficentiae adsimulati.

35 XII. Testudines tantae magnitudinis Indicum
mare emittit uti singularum superficie habit abiles
casas integant atque inter insulas Rubri praecipue
maris his navigent cumbis. capiuntur multis quidem
modis, sed maxime evectae in summapelagi anteme-
ridiano tempore blandito, eminente toto dorso per
tranquilla fluit antes, quae voluptas lib ere spirandi in
tantum fallit oblitas sui ut solis vapore siccato
cortice non queant mergi invitaeque fluitent oppor-

36 tunae venantium praedae. ferunt et pastum egressas
noctu avideque saturatas lassari atque, ut remea-
verint matutino, summa in aqua obdormiscere ; id

0 The Indian sea-tortoise (Chelonia cephalo) and the real
tortoiseshell-turtle (G. imbricata).

186

BOOK IX. x. 33-xn. 36

as its ally although it is in the night and by torchlight.
The dolphins also have a form of public alliance of
their own: when one was caught by the King of
Caria and kept tied up in the harbour a great multi-
tude of the remainder assembled, suing for com-
passion with an unmistakable display of grief, until
the king ordered it to be released. Moreover small
dolphins are always accompanied by a larger one
as escort ; and before now dolphins have been seen
carrying a dead comrade, to prevent its body being
torn in pieces by sea-monsters.

XL The creatures called porpoises have a resem- The
blance to dolphins (at the same time they are dis- porpois£-
tinguished from them by a certain gloomy air, as
they lack the sportive nature of the dolphin), but
in their snouts they have a close resemblance to the
maleficence of dogfish.

XII. The Indian Ocean produces turtles a of Turtle-
such size that the natives roof dwelling-houses^^'
with the expanse of a single shell, and use them as
boats in sailing, especially among the islands of the
Red Sea. They are caught in a number of ways, but
chiefly as they rise to the surface of the sea when
the weather in the morning attracts them, and float
across the calm waters with the whole of their backs
projecting, and this pleasure of breathing freely
cheats them into self-forgetfulness so much that their
hide gets dried up by the heat and they are unable
to dive, and go on floating against their will, an
opportune prey for their hunters. They also say that
turtles come ashore at night to graze and after
gorging greedily grow languid and when they have
gone back in the morning doze off to sleep on the
surface of the water ; that this is disclosed by the

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

prodi stertentium sonitu; turn adnatare leniter
singulis ternos, a duobus in dorsum verti, a tertio
laqueum inici supinae atque ita e terra a pluribus
trahi, in Phoenicio mari haud ulla difficultate
capiuntur; ultroque veniunt stato tempore anni in
amnem Eleutherum efFusa multitudine.

37 Dentes non sunt testudini, set rostri margines
acuti superna parte, interior em claudente pyxidum
modo tanta oris duritia ut lapides comminuant. in
mari conchyliis vivunt, in terrain egressae herbis.
pariunt ova avium ovis similia ad centena numero,
eaque defossa extra aquas et cooperta terra ac
pavita1 pectore et complanata incubant noctibus.
educunt fetus annuo spatio. quidam oculis spectan-
doque ova foveri ab iis putant, feminas coitum fugere
donee mas festucam aliquam inponat aversae.

38 Trogodytae comigeras habent ut in lyra adnexis
cornibus latis sed mobilibus, quorum in natando
remigio se adiuvant ; chelium 2 id vocatur, eximiae
testudinis sed rarae ; namque scopuli praeacuti
Chelonophagos terrent, Trogodytae autem, ad quos
adnatant, ut sacras adorant. sunt et terrestres,
quae ob id in operibus chersinae vocantur, in Africae
desertis qua parte maxime sitientibus harems

1 terra pavita hac MayJioff.

2 C. Mtiller : celtium.

a Testudo marginata, the land-tortoise.
188

BOOK IX. xn. 36-38

noise of their snoring ; and that then the natives
swim quietly up to them, three men to one turtle,
and two turn it over on its back while the third throws
a noose over it as it lies, and so it is dragged ashore by
more men hauling from the beach. Turtles are
caught without any difficulty in the Phoenician Sea;
and at a regular period of the year they come of
their own accord into the river Eleutherus in a
straggling multitude.

The turtle has no teeth, but the edges of the beak structure and
are sharp on the upper side, and the mouth closing
the lower jaw like a box is so hard that they can crush
stones. They live on shell-fish in the sea and on
plants when they come ashore. They bear eggs like
birds' eggs numbering up to 100 at a time; these
they bury in the ground somewhere ashore, cover
them with earth rammed down and levelled with their
chests, and sleep on them at night. They hatch the
young in the space of a year. Some people think
that they cherish their eggs by gazing at them with
their eyes ; and that the females refuse to couple
till the male places a wisp of straw on one as she
turns away from him. The Cavemen have horned
turtles with broad horns twisted inward like those
of a lyre but movable, which they use as oars to aid
themselves in swimming ; the name for this horn is
chelium ; it is of tortoise shell of exceptional quality,
but it is seldom seen, as the very sharp rocks
frighten the Turtle-eater tribe, while the Cavemen,
on whose coasts the turtles swim, worship them as
sacred. There are also turtles living on land," and
consequently called in works on the subject t
Terrestrial species ; these are found in the deserts of
Africa in the region of the dryest and m6st arid

1851

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

squalent, roscido, ut creditor, umore viventes.

39 neque aliud ibi animal provenit. XIII, testudinum
putamina secare in laminas lectosque et repositoria
his vestire Carvilius Pollio instituit, prodigi et sagacis
ad luxuriae instrumenta ingenii.

40 XIV. Aquatilium tegumenta plura sunt. alia
corio et pilo integuntur ut vituli et hippopotami, alia
corio tantum ut delphmi, cortice ut testudines, silicum
duritia ut ostreae et conchae, crustis ut locustae,
crustis et spinis ut echini, squamis ut pisces, aspera
cute ut squatina, qua lignum et ebora poliuntur,
molli ut murenae, alia nulla ut polypi.

41 XV. Quae pilo vestiuntur animal pariunt ut
pristis, ballaena, vitulus. hie parit in terra, pecudum
more secundas partus reddit, in coitu canum modo
cohaeret, parit nonnumquam geminis plures, educat
mammis fetum, non ante duodecimum diem deducit
in mare, ex eo subinde assuefaciens. inter ficiuntur
difficulter nisi capite eliso. ipsis in sono mugitus,
unde nomen vituli; accipiunt tamen disciplinam,
voceque 1 pariter et nisu 2 populum salutant, incon-

42 dito fremitu nomine vocati respondent, nullum
animal graviore somno premitur. " pinnis quibus in
mari utuntur humi quoque vice pedum serpunt.
pelles eorum etiam detractas corpori sensum aequor-

1 v.l, vocemque. 2 Mueller : visu aut iussu.
190

BOOK IX. xii. 38-xv. 42

sands, and it is believed that they live on the moisture
of dew. No other animal occurs there. XIII. The Tortoise-
practice of cutting tortoiseshell into plates and using sML
it to decorate bedsteads and cabinets was introduced
by Carvilius Pollio, a man of lavish talent and skill in
producing the utensils of luxury.

XIV. The aquatic animals have a variety of cover- Various
ings. Some are covered with hide and hair, for^ST
instance seals and hippopotamuses ; others with hide species.
only, as dolphins, or with shell, as turtles, or a hard
flinty exterior, as oysters and mussels, with rind,

as lobsters, with rind and spines, as sea-urchins,
with scales, as fishes, with rough skin which can be
used for polishing wood and ivory, as skates, with soft
skin, as lampreys; others with no skin at all, as
polyps.

XV. The aquatic animals clad with hair are Vmparovs
viviparous — for instance the saw-fish, the whale and

the seal. The last bears its young on land ; it pro-
duces after-birth like cattle; in coupling it clings
together as dogs do ; it sometimes gives birth to more
than two in a litter ; it rears its young at the breast ;
it does not lead them down into the sea before
the twelfth day, thereafter continually accustoming
them to it. Seals are with difficulty killed unless the
head is shattered. Of themselves they make a noise
like lowing, whence their name ' sea-calves ' ; yet
they are capable of training, and can be taught to
salute the public with their voice and at the same
time with bowing, and when called by name to
reply with a harsh roar. No animal sleeps more
heavily. The fins that they use in the sea also serve
them on land as feet to crawl with. Their hides even
when flayed from the body are said to retain a sense

191

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

um retinere tradunt semperque aestu maris recedente
inhorrescere ; praeterea dextrae pennae vim sopori-
feram inesse somnosque allicere subditam capiti.

43 Pilo carentium duo omnino animal pariunt, del-
phinus ac vipera.

XVI. Piscium species sunt LXXIV praeter crustis
intectas l quae sunt xxx de singulis alias dicemus,
nunc enim naturae tractantur insignium.

44 XVII. Praecipua magnitudine thynni ; invenimus
talenta xv pependisse, eiusdem caudae latitudinem
duo cubita et palmum. fiunt et in quibusdam
amnibus haut minores, silurus in Nilo, isox in Rheno,
attilus in Pado inertia pinguescens ad mille aliquando
libras, catenate captus hamo nee nisi boum iugis
extractus. atque hunc minimus appellatus clupea
venam quandam eius in faucibus mira cupidine appe-

45 tens morsu exanimat. silurus grassatur ubicumque
est omne animal appetens, equos innatantes saepe
demergens. praecipue in Moeno Germaniae amne
protelis boum et in Danuvio marris extrahitur
porculo marino simillimus ; et in Borysthene mem-
oratur praecipua magnitude nullis ossibus spinisve

46 intersitis, carne praedulci. in Gange Indiae platan-
istas vocant rostro delphini et cauda, magnitudine
autem xvi cubitorum. in eodem esse Statius
Sebosus haut modico miraculo affert vermes branchiis

1 Rackham : intecta.

a The catfish also occurs in Europe, where it is the largest
freshwater fish, in the Danube running to 400 Ib. in weight
and 10 ft. or more in length.

192

BOOK IX. xv. 42-xvn. 46

of the tides j and always to bristle when the tide is
going out; and it is also said that the right fin
possesses a soporific influence, and when placed
under the head attracts sleep.

Two only of the hairless animals are viviparous, the
dolphin and the viper.

XVI. There are 74 species of fishes, not including Varieties of
those that have a hard covering, of which there are ^h'
thirty. We will speak of them severally in another

place, for now we are dealing with the natures of
specially remarkable species.

XVII. The tunny is of exceptional size ; we are Exception-
told of a specimen weighing a third of a ton and
having a tail 3 ft. 4 in. broad. Fish of no less size

also occur in certain rivers, the catfish in the Nile,a
the pike in the Rhine, the sturgeon in the Po, a fish
that grows so fat from sloth that it sometimes reaches
a thousand pounds; it is caught with a hook on a
chain and only drawn out of the water by teams of
oxen. And this monster is killed by the bite of a
very small fish called the anchovy which goes for a
particular vein in its throat with remarkable voracity.
The catfish ranges about and goes for every living
creature wherever it is, often dragging down horses
when swimming. A fish very like a sea-pig is drawn
out with teams of oxen, especially in the river Main
in Germany, and in the Danube with weeding-hooks ;
an exceptionally large species with no internal frame-
work of bones or vertebrae and very sweet flesh is
recorded in the Dnieper. In the Ganges in India
there is a fish called the platanista6 with a dolphin's
beak and tail, but 24 ft. long. Statius Sebosus gives
an extremely marvellous account of worms in the

b So called to-day; a variety of dolphin.

193
VOL. III. O

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

birds sexaginta cubitorum, caeruleos, qui nomen a
facie traxerunt; his tantas esse vires ut elephantos
ad potus venientis mordicus comprehensa manu
eorum abstrahant.

47 XVIII. Thynni mares sub ventre non habent
pinnam. intrant e magno mari Pontum verno tern-
pore gregatim,nec alibi fetincant. cordyla appellatur
partuSj qui fetas redeuntes in mare autumno cornita-
tur, limosae vere l aut e luto pelamydes incipiunt
vocari et, cum annuum excessere tempus, thynni.

48 hi membratim caesi cervice et abdomine commend-
antur atque clidio, recenti dumtaxat, et turn quoque
gravi ructu; cetera parte plenis pulpamentis sale
adservantur: melandrya vocantur, quercus assulis
similia. vilissima ex his quae caudae proxima, quia
pingui carent, probatissima quae faucibus ; at in
alio pisce circa 'caudam exercitatissima.2 pelamydes
in apolectos particulatimque consectae in genera
cybiorum dispertiuntur.

49 XIX. Piscium genus omne praecipua celeritate
adolescit, maxime in Ponto ; causa multitude amnium
dulces infer entium aquas, amiam vocant cuius
incrementum singulus diebus intellegitur. cum
thynnis haec et pelamydes in Pontum ad dulciora
pabula intrant gregatim suis quaeque ducibus, et

1 Hardonin : vero. 2 exqizisitissima Gronovius.

194

a I.e. caeruleus, ' blue-worm.'
0 Or, emending the text, * most in demand.'

BOOK IX. xvn. 46-xix. 49

same river that have a pair of gills measuring 90 ft. ;
they are deep blue in colour, and named a from their
appearance; he says that they are so strong that
they carry off elephants coming to drink by gripping
the trunk in their teeth.

XVIII. Male tunnies have no fin under the belly. The tunny.
In spring time they enter the Black Sea from the
Mediterranean in shoals, and they do not spawn
anywhere else. The name of cordyla is given to the

fry, which accompany the fish when they return to
the sea in autumn after spawning; in the spring*
they begin to be called mudfish or pelamydes (from the
Greek* for ' mud '), and when they have exceeded the
period of one year they are called tunny. These fish
are cut up into parts, and the neck and belly are
counted a delicacy, and also the throat provided it
is fresh, and even then it causes severe flatulence ;
all the rest of the tunny, with the flesh entire,
is preserved in salt: these pieces are called
melandrya, as resembling splinters of oak-wood.
The cheapest of them are the parts next the tail,
because they lack fat, and the parts most favoured
are those next the throat ; whereas in other fish the
parts round the tail are most in use.c At the
pdamys stage they are divided into choice slices and
cut up small into a sort of little cube.

XIX. Fishes of all kinds grow up exceptionally
fast, especially in the Black Sea; this is due to the
fresh water carried into it by a large number of rivers.
The name of scomber is given to a fish whose growth in
size can be noticed daily. This fish and the pelamys
in company with the tunny enter the Black Sea in
shoals in search of less brackish feeding-grounds, each
kind with its own leaders, and first of all the mackerel,

195

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

primi omnium scombri, quibus est in aqua sulpureus
color, extra qm ceteris. Hispaniae cetarias hi replent
thynnis non commeantibus.

50 XX. Sed in Pontum nulla intrat bestia piscibus
malefica praeter vitulos et parvos delphinos, thynni
dextera ripa intrant, exeunt laeva ; id accidere exist-
imatur quia dextro oculo plus cernant, utroque natura
hebeti. est in euripo Thracii Bospori quo Propontis
Euxino iungitur in ipsis Europam Asiamque sepa-
rantis freti angustiis saxum miri candoris a vado
ad summa perlucens, iuxta Chalcedonem in latere

51 Asiae. huius aspectu repente territi semper adver-
sum Byzantii promunturium ex ea causa appellatum
Aurei Cornus praecipiti petunt agmine. itaque
omnis captura Byzantii est magna Chalcedonis
paenuria, M passibus medii interfluentis euripi.
opperiuntur autem aquilonis flatum, ut secundo fluctu
exeant e Ponto, nee nisi x intrantes portum Byzan-
tium capiuntur. bruma non vagantur : ubicumque
deprehensi, usque ad aequinoctium ibi hibern-
ant. idem saepe navigia veils euntia comitantes
mira quadam dulcedine per aliquot horarum
spatia et passuum milia a gubernaculis spectantur
ne tridente quidem in eos saepius iacto territi.
quidam eos qui hoc e thynnis faciant pompilos

52 vocant. multi in Propontide aestivant, Pontum non

1 Edd. nisi <infantes> vel <parvi> vel <pusilli>.

a Probably the text is to be altered to give ' only the young
fry are taken/ to conform with Arist. Hist. An. VIII 13, p.
598a 26.

196

BOOK IX. xix. 49-xx. 52

which when in the water is sulphur-coloured, though
out of water it is the same colour as the other kinds.
These fill the fish-ponds of Spain, the tunny not going
with them.

XX. But no creature harmful to fish enters the Habits of
Black Sea besides seals and small dolphins. The
tunny enter it by the right bank and go out of it
by the left ; this is believed to occur because they
can see better with the right eye, being by nature
dim of sight in both eyes. In the channel of the
Thracian Bosphorus joining the Sea of Marmora with
the Black Sea, in the actual narrows of the channel
separating Europe and Asia, there is a rock of
marvellous whiteness that shines through the water
from the bottom to the surface, near Chalcedon on
the Asiatic side. The sudden sight of this always
frightens them, and they make for the opposite
promontory of Istambul in a headlong shoal; this
is the reason why that promontory has the name of
the Golden Horn. Consequently all the catch is at
Istambul, and there is a great shortage at Chalcedon,
owing to the 1000 yards of channel flowing in be-
tween. But they wait for a north wind to blow so
as to go out of the Black Sea with the current, and
are only taken a when entering the harbour of
Istambul. In winter they do not wander ; wherever
winter catches them, there they hibernate till the
equinox. They are also frequently seen from the
stern of vessels proceeding under sail, accompanying
them in a remarkably charming manner for periods
of several hours and for a distance of some miles,
not being scared even by having a harpoon repeatedly
thrown at them. Some people give the name of
pilot-fish to the tunny that do this. Many pass the
summer in the Sea of Marmora without entering the

197

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

intrant; item soleae, cum rhombi intrent. nee
sepia adest,1 cum lolligo reperiatur. saxatilium
turdus et merula desunt, sicut conchylia, cum
ostreae abundent ; omnia autem hibernant in Aegaeo.
intrantium Pontum soli non remeant trichiae —
Graecis enim in plerisque nominibus uti par erit,
quando aliis atque aliis eosdem diversi appellavere

53 tractus — , sed hi soli in Histrum2 subeunt et ex
eo subterraneis eius venis in Hadriaticum mare
defluunt, itaque et illic descendentes nee umquam
subeuntes e mari visuntur. thynnorum captura est
a vergiliarum exortu ad arcturi occasum; reliquo
tempore hiberno latent in gurgitibus imis nisi tepore
aliquo evocati aut pleniluniis. pinguescunt et in
tantum ut dehiscant. vita longissima his bienni.

54 XXI. Animal est parvum scorpionis effigie, aranei
magnitudine. hoc se et thynno et ei qui gladius
vocatur, crebro delphini magnitudinem excedenti,
sub pinna adfigit aculeo, tantoque infestat dolore
ut in naves saepenumero exiliant. quod et alias
faciunt aliorum vim timentes mugiles maxime, tarn
praecipuae velocitatis ut transversa navigia interim
superiaciant.3

55 XXII. Sunt et in hac parte naturae auguria, sunt et
piscibus praescita. Siculo bello ambulante in litore

1 Haclcham : est.

2 Mayhoff : Histrum mare aut H. amnem.

3 Mayhojf (cf. vii. 81) : superiactant, -ent.

a The beginning of summer, the 48th day after the vernal
equinox.

6 The evening setting, early in November.
0 Probably a parasitic copepod.
d 38-36 B.O.

198

BOOK IX. xx. 52-xxn. 55

Black Sea; the same is the case with the sole,
though the turbot does enter it. Nor does the sepia
occur there, though the cuttle-fish is found. Of rock-
fish the sea-bream and whiting are lacking, as are some
shell-fish, though oysters are plentiful ; but they all
winter in the Aegean. Of those entering the Black
Sea the only kind that never returns is the trichia or
sardine — it will be convenient to use the Greek names
in most cases, as different districts have called the
same species by a great variety of names — , but these
alone enter the Danube and float down from it by its
underground channels into the Adriatic, and con-
sequently there also they are regularly seen going
down stream and never coming up from the sea.
The season for catching tunny is from the risea
of the Pleiads to the setting b of Arcturus ; during
the rest of the winter time they lurk at the
bottom of the water unless tempted out by a mild
spell or at full moon. They get fat even to the
point of bursting. The tunny's longest life is two
years.

XXL There is a small animal c shaped like a, Parasite of
scorpion, of the size of a spider. This attaches itself the tmny'
with a spike under the fin of both the tunny and the
fish called sword-fish, which often exceeds the size of
a dolphin, and torments them so painfully that they
frequently jump out of the water into ships. This
is also done on other occasions from fear of the
violence of other fish, especially by mullet, which
are so exceptionally swift that they sometimes leap
right over ships that lie across their path.

XXII. In this department of nature also there are Portents
cases of augury; even fish have fore-knowledge Of^
events. During the Sicilian Ward when Augustus

199

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Augusto piscis e mari ad pedes eius exilivit, quo
argumento vates respondere Neptunum patrem
adoptante turn sibi Sexto Pompeio — tanta erat
navalis rei gloria — sub pedibus Caesaris futures qui
maria tempore illo tenerent.

56 XXIII. Piscium feminae maiores quam mares, in
quodam genere omnino non sunt mares, sicut eryth-
inis et channis, omnes enim ovis gravidae capiuntur.
vagantur gregatim fere cuiusque generis squamosi.
capiuntur ante solis ortum: turn maxime piscium
fallitur visus. noctibus quies, set inlustribus aeque
quam die cernunt. aiunt et si teratur gurges
interesse capturae, itaque plures secundo tractu
capi quam primo. gustu olei maxime, dein modicis
imbribus gaudent alunturque : quippe et har undines
quamvis in palude prognatae non tamen sine imbre
adolescunt; et alias ubicumque pisces in eadem
aqua adsiduij si non affluat, exanimantur.

57 XXIV. Praegelidam hiemem omnes sentiunt, sed
maxime qui lapidem in capite habere existimantur,
ut lupij chromes, sciaenae, phagri. cum asperae
hi ernes fuere, multi caeci capiuntur. itaque his
mensibus iacent speluncis conditi (sicut in genere
terrestrium retulimus), maxime hippurus et coracini,
hieme non capti praeterquam statis diebus Baucis
et isdem semper, item murena et orphus, conger,
percae et saxatiles omnes. terra quidem, hoc est

« VIII 126 ff.

& Coryphaeus hippuris, Portuguese * dorado.*

200

BOOK IX. xxii. 55-xxiv. 57

was walking on the shore a fish leapt out of the sea
at his feetj a sign which the priests interpreted as
meaning that although Sextus Pompeius was then
adopting Neptune as his father — so glorious were his
naval exploits,— yet those who at that time held the
seas would later be beneath the feet of Caesar.

XXIII. Female fish are larger than the males. In
one kind there are no males at all, as is the case with
red mullet and sea-perch, for all those caught are
heavy with eggs. Almost every kind with scales is
gregarious. Fish are caught before sunrise ; at that Modes of
hour their sight is most fallible. In the night they c
repose, but on bright nights they can see as well as by

day. People also say that scraping the bottom helps
the catch, and that consequently more are caught at
the second haul than at the first. Fish are fondest
of the taste of oil, but next to that they enjoy and
derive nourishment from moderate falls of rain:
in fact even reeds although growing in a marsh
nevertheless do not grow up without rain; and
besides, fishes everywhere die when kept continually
in the same water, if there is no inflow.

XXIV. All fish feel a very cold winter, but most of Hibernating
all those that are believed to have a stone in their spe™s'
head, for instance the bass, the ckromis, the ombre

and the phagrus. When the winter has been severe
a great many are caught blind. Consequently in the
winter months they lie hidden in caves (like cases
that we have recorded in the class of land-animals a),
particularly the hippuris b and blackfish, which are not
caught in winter except on a few regular days that
are always the same, and also the lamprey and the
orphus, the conger and perch and all rockfish. It is
indeed reported that the electric ray, the plaice and

201

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vado maris excavate, condi per hiemes torpedinem,
psettam, soleam tradunt.

58 XXV. Quidam rursus aestus inpatientia mediis
fervoribus sexagenis diebus latent, ut glaucus, aselli,
auratae. fluviatilium silurus caniculae exortu sider-
atur, et alias semper fulgure sopitur. hoc et in mari
accidere cyprino putant. et alioqui totum mare
sentit exortum eius sideris, quod maxime in Bosporo
apparet, alga enim et pisces superferuntur, omnia-
que ab imo versa.

59 XXVI. Mugilum natura ridetur in metu capite
abscondito totos se occultari credentium. isdem
tarn incauta salacitas ut in Phoenice et in Narbonensi
provincia coitus tempore e vivariis marem linea
longinqua per os ad branchias religata emissum in
mare eademque linea retractum feminae sequantur
ad litus, rursusque feminam mares partus tempore.

60 XXVII. Apud antiques piscium nobilissimus habi-
tus accipenser, unus omnium squamis ad os versis,
contra quam in nando meat,1 nullo nunc in honor e
est, quod equidem2 miror, cum sit rarus inventu-
quidam eum elopem vocant.

61 XXVIII. Postea praecipuam auctoritatem fuisse
lupo et asellis Nepos Cornelius et Laberius poeta mim-
orum tradidere, luporum laudatissimi qui appellantur

1 Rackham : meant. 2 Mayhoff : quidem.

202

BOOK IX. xxiv. 57-xxvm. 61

the sole hide through the winters in the ground, that
is, in a hole scraped out at the bottom of the sea,

XXV. Some fish again being unable to endure heat Species
hide for 8 or 9 weeks during the heats of midsummer, *"""""*
for instance the grayling, the haddock and the gilt- 1
bream. Of river fish the catfish has a stroke at stroke'
the rise of the dogstar, and at other times is always
made drowsy by lightning. This is thought to
happen to the carp even in the sea. And beside

this the whole sea is conscious of the rise of that
star, as is most clearly seen in the Dardanelles,
for sea-weed and fishes float on the surface, and
everything is turned up from the bottom.

XXVI. It is an amusing trait in the mullet that catching
when frightened it hides its head and thinks it is mullet"
entirely concealed. The same fish is so incautious

in its wantonness that in Phoenicia and in the
Province of Narbonne at the breeding season a male
mullet from the fish-ponds is sent out into the sea
with a long line tied to its gills through its mouth
and when it is drawn back by the same line the females
follow it to the shore, and again the males follow a
female at the laying season.

XXVII. In old days the sturgeon was held to be Grades of
the noblest of the fishes, being the only one with its ^m^
scales turned towards the mouth, in the opposite sturgeon.
direction to the one in which it swims ; but now it

is held in no esteem, which for my part I think
surprising, as it is a fish seldom to be found. One
name for it is the elops.

XXVIII. Cornelius Nepos and the mime-writer Ganges of
Laberius have recorded that at a later period the ^1 and the
chief rank belonged to the bass and the haddock, haddock.
The kind of bass most praised is the one called the

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

lanati a candor e mollitiaque carnis. asellorum duo
genera, collyri l minor es et bacchi qui non nisi in
alto capiuntur, ideo praelati prioribus. at in lupis in
amne capti praeferuntur.

62 XXIX. Nunc principatus scaro datur, qui solus
piscium dicitur ruminare herbisque vesci atque non
aliis piscibusj Carpathio maxime mari frequens;
promunturium Troadis Lectum numquam sponte
transit, inde advectos Tiberio Claudio principe
Optatus e libertis eius praefectus classis inter
Ostiensem et Campaniae oram sparsos disseminavit,

63 quinquennio fere cura adhibita ut capti redderentur
mari. postea frequentes inveniuntur Italiae litore,
non antea ibi capti; admovitque sibi gula sapores
piscibus satis et novum incolam mari dedit, ne quis
peregrinas aves Romae parere miretur. proxima
est mensa iecori dumtaxat musfcelarum quas, minim
dictu, inter Alpes quoque lacus Raetiae Brigantinus
aemulas marinis generat.

64 XXX. Ex reliqua nobilitate et gratia maximo
est et copia mullis, sicut magnitudo modica, binasque
libras ponderis raro admodum exuperant, nee in
vivariis piscinisque crescunt. septentrionalis tantum
hos et proxima occidentis parte gignit oceanus.

1 callariae Hermolaus ex AtJien. vii. 315.
204

BOOK IX. xxvin. 6i-xxx. 64

woolly bass, from the whiteness and softness of its
flesh. There are two kinds of haddock— the collyrus,
which is the smaller, and the bacchus, which is only
caught in deep water, and consequently is preferred
to the former. But among bass those caught in a
river are preferred.

XXIX. Nowadays the first place is given to the The wrasse.
wrasse, which is the only fish that is said to chew the
cud and to feed on grasses and not on other fish. It
is especially common in the Carpathian Sea; it
never of its own accord passes Cape Lectmn in the
Troad. Some wrasse were imported from there in the
principate of Tiberius Claudius by one of his freed-
men, Optatus, Commander of the Fleet, and were
distributed and scattered about between the mouth
of the Tiber and the coast of Campania, care being
taken for about five years that when caught they
should be put back into the sea. Subsequently they
have been frequently found on the coast of Italy,
though not caught there before ; and thus greed has
provided itself with additional dainties by cultivating
fish, and has bestowed on the sea a new denizen —
so that nobody must be surprised that foreign birds
breed at Rome. The next place belongs0 at all
events to the liver of the lamprey that strange to say
the Lake of Constance in Raetia in the Central
Alps also produces to rival the marine variety.

XXX. Of other fish of a good class the red mullet
stands first in popularity and also in plentifulness,
though its size is moderate and it but rarely exceeds
2 Ibs. in weight, nor does it grow larger when kept
in preserves and fishponds. This gize is only pro-
duced by the northern ocean and in its westernmost

« Cf, XIV 16 ante eum Raeticis prior mensa erat avis.

205

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cetero genera eorum plura. nam et alga vescuntur
et ostreis et limo et aliorum piscium carne ; et barba

65 gemina insigniuntur inferiore labro. lutarium ex iis
vilissimi generis appellant, hunc semper comitatur
sargus nomine alius piscis, et caenum fodiente
eo excitatum devorat pabulum, nee litoralibus
gratia, laudatissimi conchylium sapiunt. nomen
his Fenestella a colore mulleorum calciamentorum
datum putat. pariunt ter annis : certe totiens fetura

66 apparet. mullum expirantem versicolori quadam
et numerosa varietate spectari proceres gulae nar-
rant, rubentium squamarum multiplied mutatione
pallescentem. utique si vitro spectetur inclusus. M.
Apicius ad omne luxus ingenium natus * in sociorum
garo — nam ea quoque res cognomen invenit —
necari 2 eos praecellens putavit, atque e iecore eorum

67 alecem excogitari.3 XXXI. provocavit — id enim
est facilius dixisse quam quis vicerit — Asinius Celer
e consularibus hoc pisce prodigos 4 omnes, Gaio
principe unum mercatus HS. vm mullum. quae
reputatio aufert traversum animum ad contempla-
tionem eorum qui in conquestione luxus cocos emi
singulos pluris quam equos queritabant; at mine
coci trium horum 5 pretiis parantur et cocorum
pisces, nullusque prope iam mortalis aestimatur

1 Hardouin : mains. 2 necare ? Mueller.

3 Raclcham : excogztare. 4 Mueller : prodigus.
5 fteinesius (vel trium equorum) : triumphorum.

a Or perhaps ' Fenestella thinks that this fish (the red mullet)
has received its name from the colour of the shoes called
mullei.'

b For this fish-sauce see XXXI 93.

0 Say £70 gold.

206

BOOK IX. xxx. 64-xxxi. 67

part. For the rest, there are several kinds of mullet.
For it feeds on seaweed, bivalves, mud and the flesh
of other fish; and it is distinguished by a double
beard on the lower lip. The mullet of cheapest kind
is called the mud-mullet. This variety is always
accompanied by another fish named sea-bream, and
it swallows down as fodder mire stirred up by the
sea-bream digging. The coast mullet also is not in
favour. The most approved kind have the flavour of
an oyster. This variety has the name of shoe-mullet ?
which Fenestella thinks was given it from its colour.0
It spawns three times a year — at all events that is
the number of times that its fry is seen. The
leaders in gastronomy say that a dying mullet
shows a large variety of changing colours, turning
pale with a complicated modification of blushing
scales, at all events if it is looked at when contained
in a glass bowl. Marcus Apicius, who had a natural
gift for every ingenuity of luxury, thought it specially
desirable for mullets to be killed in a sauce made of
their companions, garumb — for this thing also has
procured a designation — and for fish-paste to be
devised out of their liver. XXXI. With a fish of prices paw,
this kind one of the proconsular body, Asinius Celer,
in the principate of Gaius, issued a challenge — it is
not so easy to say who won the match — to all the
spendthrifts by giving 8000 sesterces c for a mullet.
The thought of this side-tracks the mind to the con-
sideration of the people who in their complaints
about luxury used to protest that cooks were being
bought at a higher price per man than a horse ; but
now the price of three horses is given for a cook,
and the price of three cooks for a fish, and almost
no human being has come to be more valued than

207

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pluris quam qui peritissime censum domini mergit.

68 mullum LXXX librarum in mari Rubro captum Licinius
Mucianus prodidit quanti mercatura eum luxuria
suburbanis litoribus inventum ?

XXXII. Est et haec natura ut alii alibi pisces
principatum optineant, coracinus in Aegypto, zaeus,
idem faber appellatus, Gadibus, circa Ebusum salpa,
obscenus alibi et qui nusquam percoqui possit nisi
ferula verberatus; in Aquitania salmo fluviatilis
marinis omnibus praefertur.

69 XXXIII. Piscium alii branchias multiplices ha-
bent, alii simplices, alii duplices. his aquam ernittunt
acceptam ore. senectutis indicium squamarum
duritia, quae non sunt omnibus similes, duo lacus
Italiae in radicibus Alpium Larius et Verbannus
appellantur, in quibus pisces omnibus annis vergiliar-
um ortu existunt squamis conspicui crebris atque
praeacutis, clavorum caligarium emgie, nee amplius
circa eum mensem visuntur.

70 XXXIV. Miratur et Arcadia suum exocoetum
appellatum ab eo quod in siccum somni causa exeat.
circa Clitorium vocalis hie traditur et sine branchiis,
idem ab 1 aliquis Adonis dictus.

71 XXXV. Exeunt in terram et qui marini mures
vocantur et polypi et murenae; quin et in Indiae
fluminibus certum genus piscium, ac deinde resilit —
nam in stagna et amnes transeundi plerisque evidens

1 ab add.

a See note on § 53. b Andbas Scandens.

208

BOOK IX. xxxi. 6y-xxxv. 71

one that is most skilful in making his master bank-
rupt. Licinius Mucianus has recorded the capture
in the Red Sea of a mullet weighing 80 Ibs. ; what
price would our epicures have paid for it if it had
been found on the coasts near the city?

XXXII. It is also a fact of nature that different ^tiesof
fishes hold the first rank in different places — the LS?t *
blackfish in Egypt, the John Dory (also called the
carpenter-fish) at Cadiz, the stockfish in the neigh-
bourhood of Iviza, though elsewhere it is a disgusting

fish, and everywhere it is unable to be cooked
thoroughly unless it has been beaten with a rod ; in
Aquitaine the river salmon is preferred to all sea-fish.

XXXIII. Some fish have numerous gills, others varieties of
single ones, others double. With the gills they JJ^f1*
discharge the water taken in by the mouth.
Hardening of the scales, which are not alike in all
fishes, is a sign of age. There are two lakes in

Italy at the foot of the Alps, named Como and
Maggiore, in which every year at the rising of the
Pleiads a fish are found that are remarkable for
close-set and very sharp scales, shaped like shoe-
nails, but they are not commonly seen for a longer
period than about a month from then.

XXXIV. Arcadia also has a marvel in its climbing
perch,6 so called because it climbs out on to the
land to sleep. In the district of the river Clitorius
this fish is said to have a voice and no gills; the
same variety is by some people called the Adonis fish.

XXXV. The fish called the sea-mouse also comes out pwh that
on to the land, as do the polypus and the lamprey ; come to land-
so also does a certain kind of fish in the rivers of

India, and then jumps back again — for in most
cases there is an obvious purpose in getting across into

209
VOL. in, p

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ratio est ut tutos fetus edant, quia non sint ibi qui
devorent partus fluctusque minus saeviant. has
intellegi ab iis causas servarique temporum vices
magis miretur si quis reputet quoto cuique hominum
nosci uberrimam esse capturam sole transeunte
piscium signum.

72 XXXVL Marinorum alii sunt plani, ut rhombi,
soleae ac passeres, qui ab rhombis situ tantum cor-
porum diiFerunt — dexter hie resupinatus est illis,
passeri laevos ; alii longi, ut murena, conger.

73 XXXVII. Ideo pinnarum quoque fiunt discrimina,
quae pedum vice sunt datae piscibus, nullis supra
quattuor, quibusdam ternae, quibusdam binae, aliquis
nullae. in Fucino tantum lacu piscis est qui octonis
pinnis natat. binae omnino longis et lubricis, ut
anguillis et congris, aliis l nullae, ut murenis, quibus
nee branchiae, haec omnia flexuoso corporum
inpulsu ita mari utuntur ut serpentes terra, et in
sicco quoque repunt; ideo etiam vivaciora talia.
et e planis aliqua non habent pinnas, ut pastinacae —
ipsa enim latitudine natant — et quae mollia appell-
antur, ut polypi, quoniam pedes illis pinnarum
vicem praestant

74 XXXVIII. Anguillae octonis vivunt annis. durant
et sine aqua quinis et 2 senis diebus aquilone spirante,
austro paucioribus, at hiemem eaedem in exigua

1 aliis add. Mueller ex Aristotele.

2 Mueller ex Ar. : sine aquis et.

0 Or dab ; the identification is doubtful.
210

BOOK IX. xxxv. 7i~xxxvm. 74

marshes and lakes so as to produce their offspring
safe, as in those waters there are no creatures to
devour their young and the waves are less fierce.
Their understanding these reasons and their observ-
ing the changes of the seasons would seem more
surprising to anybody who considers what fraction
of mankind is aware that the biggest catch is made
when the sun is passing through the sign of the
Fishes.

XXXVI. Some sea-fish are flat, for instance the Flatfish.
turbot, the sole and the flounder/ which differs from
the turbot only in the posture of its body — the turbot
lies with the right side uppermost and the flounder
with the left ; while other sea-fish are long, as the
lamprey and the conger. XXXVII. Consequently varieties of
differences also occur in the fins, which are bestowed fins'
on fish instead of feet ; none have more than four,
some have three, some two, certain kinds none. In
the Lago di Celano, but nowhere else, there is a fish
that has eight fins to swim with. Long slippery fish
like eels and congers generally have two fins, others
have none, for instance, the lamprey which also has
no gills. All this class use the sea as snakes do the
land, propelling themselves by twisting their bodies,
and they also crawl on dry land; consequently this
class are also longer-lived. Some of the flat-fish too
have not got fins, for example, the sting-ray — for
these swim merely by means of their breadth — and
the kinds called soft fish, such as polyps, since their
feet serve them instead of fins.

XXXVIII. Eels live eight years. They can even HOMU of
last five or six days at a time out of water if a north * *'
wind is blowing, but not so long with a south wind.
But the same fish cannot endure winter in shallow

p2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aqua non tolerant, neque in turbida ; ideo circa ver-
gilias maxime capiuntur fluminibus turn praecipue
turbidis. pascuntur noctibus. exanimes piscium solae

75 non fluitant. lacus est Italiae Benacus in Veronensi
agro Mincium amnem tramittens, ad cuius emersum I
annuo tempore, Octobri fere mense, autumnali
sidere, ut palam est, hiemato lacu, fluctibus glomer-
atae volvuntur in tantum mirabili multitudine ut in
excipulis eius fluminis ob hoc ipsum fabricatis
singulorum milium reperiantur globi.

76 XXXIX. Murena quocumque mense parit, cum
ceteri pisces stato pariant. ova eius citissime
crescunt. in sicca litora elapsas vulgus coitu
serpentium impleri putat. Aristoteles zmyrum vocat
marem qui generet; discrimen esse quod murena
varia et infirma sit, zmyrus unicolor et robustus
dentesque et 2 extra os habeat. in Gallia septen-
trionali murenis omnibus dextera in maxilla septenae
maculae ad formam septenfcrionis aureo colore
fulgent dumtaxat viventibus, pariterque cum anima

77 extinguuntur. invenit in hoc animali documenta
saevitiae Vedius Pollio eques Romanus ex amicis
divi Augusti vivariis earum immergens- damnata
mancipia, non tamquam ad hoc feris terrarum non
sufficientibus, sed quia in alio genere totum pariter

1 RackJiam : emersus.

2 et add. ex Aristotele MayTioff.

0 See on § 53. b Unidentifiable.

212

BOOK IX. xxxvin. 74-xxxix. 77

nor in rough water; consequently they are chiefly
caught at the rising of the Pleiads ,a as the rivers
are then specially rough. They feed at night.
They are the only fish that do not float on the
surface when dead. There is a lake called Garda
in the territory of Verona through which flows the
river Mincio, at the outflow of which on a yearly
occasion, about the month of October, when the
lake is made rough evidently by the autumn star,
they are massed together by the waves and rolled
in such a marvellous shoal that masses of fish, a
thousand in each, are found in the receptacles
constructed in the river for the purpose.

XXXIX. The lamprey spawns in any month, Habits of tfo
although all other fish have fixed breeding seasons. l
Its eggs grow very quickly. Lampreys are commonly
believed to crawl out on to dry land and to be
impregnated by copulating with snakes. Aristotle
gives the name of zmyrus 6 to the male fish which
generates, and says that the difference is that the
lamprey is spotted and feeble whereas the zmyrus
is self-coloured and hardy, and has teeth projecting
outside the mouth. In Northern Gaul all lampreys
have seven spots on the right jaw arranged like the
constellation of the Great Bear, which are of a
bright golden colour as long as the fish are alive,
and are extinguished when they are deprived of
life. Vedius Pollio, Knight of Borne, a member of
the Privy Council under the late lamented Augustus,
found in this animal a means of displaying his
cruelty when he threw slaves sentenced to death
into ponds of lampreys — not that the wild animals
on land were not sufficient for this purpose, but
because with any other kind of creature he was

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

hominem distrahi spectare non poterat. ferunt
aceti gustatu 1 praecipue eas in rabiem agi. ten-
uissimum his tergus, contra anguillis crassius, eoque
verberari solitos tradit Verrius praetextatos, et ob
id multam iis dici non institutum.

78 XL. Planorum piscium alterum est genus quod
pro spina cartilaginem habet, ut raiae, pastinacae,
squatinae, torpedo, et quos bovis, lamiae, aquilae,
ranae nominibus Graeci appellant, quo in numero
sunt squali quoque, quamvis non plani. haec
Graece in universum creXa^^ appellavit Aristoteles
primo hoc nomine eis inposito : nos distinguere non
possumus nisi si cartilaginea appellare libeat. omnia
autem carnivora sunt talia, et supina vescuntur, ut
in delphinis diximus, et cum ceteri pisces ova pariant,
hoc genus solum ut ea quae cete appellant animal
parit excepta quam ranam vocant.

79 XLI. Est parvus admodum piscis adsuetus petris
echeneis appellatus. hoc carinis adhaerente naves
tardius ire creduntur inde nomine inposito, quam
ob causam amatoriis quoque veneficiis infamis est et
iudiciorum ac litium mora, quae crimina una laude
pensat fluxus gravidarum utero sistens partusque
continens ad puerperium. in cibos tamen non ad-

1 Mayhoff ? (cf. x. 185 &c.) : gustu.

0 The remora*
214

BOOK IX. xxxix. 77-XLi. 79

not able to have the spectacle of a man being torn
entirely to pieces at one moment. It is stated that
tasting vinegar particularly drives them mad.
Their skin is very thin, whereas that of eels is rather
thick, and Verrius records that it used to be used
for flogging boys who were sons of citizens, and
that consequently it was not the practice for them
to be punished with a fine.

XL. There is a second class of flatfish that has Boneless
gristle instead of a backbone, for instance rays,
sting-rays, skates, the electric ray, and those the
Greek names for which mean 'ox,' ' sorceress,'
' eagle ' and ' frog.' This group includes the squalus
also, although that is not a flatfish. These Aristotle
designated in Greek by the common name of selach-
ians, giving them that name for the first time ; but
we cannot distinguish them as a class unless we like
to call them the cartilaginea. But all such fish are
carnivorous, and they feed lying on their backs, as
we said in the case of dolphins; and whereas all
other fish are oviparous, this kind alone with the
exception of the species called the sea-frog is
viviparous, like the creatures termed cetaceans.

XLL There is a quite small fish that frequents
rocks, called the sucking-fish.a This is believed to
make ships go more slowly by sticking to their hulls,
from which it has received its name ; and for this
reason it also has an evil reputation for supplying a
love-charm and for acting as a spell to hinder liti-
gation in the courts, which accusations it counter-
balances only by its laudable property of stopping
fluxes of the womb in pregnant women and holding
back the offspring till the time of birth. It is not
included however among articles of diet. It is

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

80 mittitur. pedes eum habere arbitrantur ; Aristoteles
infitias 1 it apposita pinnarum similitudine.

Mucianus muricem esse latiorem purpura, neque
aspero neque rotundo ore neque in angulos prodeunte
rostro sed sicut2 concha utroque latere sese colligente ;
quibus inhaerentibus plenam venti 3 stetisse navem
portantem nuntios a Periandro ut castrarentur
nobiles pueri4; conchasque quae id praestiterint
apud Cnidiorum Venerem coli. Trebius Niger
pedalem esse et crassitudine quinque digitorum,
naves morari ; praeterea hanc esse vim eius adservati
in sale ut aurum quod deciderit in altissimos puteos
admotus extrahat.

81 XLII. Mutant colorem candidum maenae et fiunt
aestate nigriores. mutat et phycis, reliquo tempore
Candida, vere varia. eadem piscium sola nidificat
ex alga atque in nido parit.

82 XLIII. Volat sane perquam similis volucri hirundo 5
item milvus. subit in summa maria piscis ex argu-
mento appellatus lucerna, linguaque ignea per os
exerta tranquillis noctibus relucet. attollit e
mari sesquipedanea fere cornua quae ab his nomen
traxit. rursus draco marinus captus atque immissus
in harenam cavernam sibi rostro mira celeritate
excavat.

83 XLIV. Piscium sanguine carent de quibus dice-
in us. sunt autem tria genera : primum quae mollia

1 infitias add. Mayhoff.

2 Maylioff : sic aut simplici.

3 Mayhoff: ventis.

4 navem Periandri portantem, ut castrarentur, nobiles
pueros Mayhoff.

5 Mayhoff: hirundini (v.l. volat his unda sane).

a The Romans reckoned 16 digiti to the pes.
216

BOOK IX. XLI. 79-XLiv. 83

thought by some to have feet, but Aristotle denies
this, adding that its limbs resemble wings.

Mucianus states that the murex is broader than Varieties of
the purple, and has a mouth that is not rough nor
round and a beak that does not stick out into
corners but shuts together on either side like a
bivalve shell ; and that owing to murexes clinging
to the sides a ship was brought to a standstill when
in full sail before the wind, carrying despatches
from Periander ordering some noble youths to be
castrated, and that the shell-fish that rendered this
service are worshipped in the shrine of Venus at
Cnidus. Trebius Niger says that it is a foot long
and four inches a wide, and hinders ships, and more-
over that when preserved in salt it has the power of
drawing out gold that has fallen into the deepest
wells when it is brought near them.

XLII. The maena& changes its white colour and
becomes blacker in summer. The lamprey also
changes colour, being white all the rest of the time
but variegated in spring. Also it is the only fish
that lays its eggs in a nest, which it builds of seaweed.

XLIII. The swallow-fish flies just exactly like a other
bird, and so does the kite-fish. The fish on this species'
account called the lamp-fish rises to the surface of
the sea, and on calm nights gives a light with its
fiery tongue which it puts out from its mouth. The
fish that has got its name from its horns raises these
up about 18 inches out of the sea. The sea-snake,
again, when caught and placed on the sand, with
marvellous rapidity digs itself a hole with its beak.

XLIV. We will now speak of the bloodless fishes. skoMes
Of these there are three kinds : first those which are ^&

* This species is unidentifiable, as are those in c. XLIII. '

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

appellantur, dein contecta crustis tenuibus, postremo
testis conclusa duris. mollia sunt lolligo, saepia,
polypus et cetera generis eius. his caput inter pedes
et ventrem, pediculi octoni omnibus, saepiae et
lolligini pedes duo ex his longissimi et asperi quibus
ad ora admovent cibos et in fluctibus se velut anchoris
stabiliunt, ceteri 1 cirri quibus venantur.

84 XLV. Lolligo etiam volitat extra aquam se efferens,
quod et pectunculi faciunt, sagittae modo. saepia-
rum generis mares varii et nigriores constantiaeque
maioris : percussae tridente feminae auxiliantur,
at femina icto mare fugit. ambo autem, ubi sensere
se adprehendi, effuso atramento quod pro sanguine
his est infuscata aqua absconduntur.

85 XLVL Polyporum multa genera, terreni maiores
quam pelagici. omnibus bracchiis ut pedibus ac
manibus utuntur, cauda vero, quae est bisulca et
acuta, in coitu. est polypis fistula in dorso qua
tramittunt mare, eamque modo in dexteram partem,
modo in sinistram transferunt. natant obliqui in
caput, quod praedurum est ut 2 sufflatione viventibus.
cetero per bracchia velut acetabulis dispersis haustu
quodam adhaerescunt : tenent supini ut avelli non
queant. vada non adprehendunt ; et grandibus

1 Rackham : cetera (circa MayJioff cf. Ar. rrepl TO KVTOS).

2 ut add. Hardouin coll. Aristotele.

a Aristotle H.A. 524a 13 vet 8£ TrAaytos cVt rfy
K€^aA^v e/CT€iycov TOVS TTvBas.

218

BOOK IX. XLIV. 83-xLvi. 85

called soft fish, then those covered with thin rinds,
and lastly those enclosed in hard shells. The soft
are the cuttle-fish, the sepia, the polyp and the others
of that kind. They have the head between the feet
and the belly, and all of them have eight little feet.
In the sepia and cuttle-fish two of these feet are
extremely long and rough, and by means of these
they carry food to their mouths, and steady them-
selves as with anchors in a rough sea ; but all the rest
are feelers which they use for catching their prey.

XLV. The cuttle-fish even flies, raising itself out The c
of the water, as also do the small scallops, like an
arrow. The males of the genus sepia are variegated
and darker in colour, and they are more resolute:
when a female is struck with a trident they come to
her assistance, whereas a female flees when a male
is struck. But both sexes on perceiving they are
being caught hold of pour out a dark fluid which these
animals have instead of blood, so darkening the water
and concealing themselves.

XLVI. There are many sorts of polyp. The land ne polyp:
kinds are larger than the marine. They use all their
arms as feet and hands, but employ the tail, which is
forked and pointed, in sexual intercourse. The
polyps have a tube in their back through which they
pass the sea-water, and they shift this now to the
right side and now to the left. They swim with
their head on one side,a this while they are alive
being hard as though blown out. Otherwise they
remain adhering with a land of suction, by means of
a sort of suckers spread over their arms : throwing
themselves backward they hold on so that they
cannot be torn away. They do not cling to the
bottom of the sea, and have less holding-power when

219

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

minor tenacitas. soli mollium in siccum exeunt,

86 dumtaxat asperum: levitatem odere. vescuntur
conchyliorum carne, quorum conchas conplexu
crinium frangunt; itaque praeiacentibus testis
cubile eorum deprehenditur. et cum alioqui brutum
habeatur animal, ut quod ad manum hominis adnatet,
in re quodammodo familiari callet : omnia in domum
comportat, dein putamina erosa carne egerit adna-

87 tantesque pisciculos ad ea venatur. colorem mutat
ad similitudinem loci, et maxime in metu. ipsum
bracchia sua rodere falsa opinio est, id enim a congris
evenit ei ; sed renasci sicut colotis et lacertis caudas
haut falsum.

88 XLVII. Inter praecipua autem miracula est qui
vocatur nautilos, ab aliis pompilos. supinus in
summa aequorum pervenit, ita se paulatim absubri-
gens ut emissa omni per fistulam aqua velut exonera-
tus sentina facile naviget. postea prima duo
bracchia retorquens menabranam inter ilia mirae
tenuitatis extendit, qua velificante in aura ceteris
subremigans bracchiis media se cauda ut gubernaculo
regit. ita vadit alto Liburnicarum ludens 1 imagine,2
si quid pavoris interveniat, hausta se mergens aqua.

89 XLVIII. Polyporum generis est ozaena dicta a

1 v.L gardens, sed cp. § 94.

2 imaginem? ftackham.

220

BOOK IX. XLVI. 85-XLvm. 89

full-grown. They alone of the soft creatures go out
of the water on to dry land, provided it has a rough
surface : they hate smooth surfaces. They feed on
the flesh of shellfish, the shells of which they break
by enfolding them with their tentacles ; and conse-
quently their lair can be detected by the shells lying
in front of it. And though the polyp is in other
respects deemed a stupid animal, inasmuch as it
swims towards a man's hand, it has a certain kind of
sense in its domestic economy : it collects everything
into its home, and then after it has eaten the flesh
puts out the refuse and catches the little fishes that
swim up to it. It changes its colour to match its
environment, and particularly when it is frightened.
The notion that it gnaws its own arms is a mistake,
for this is done to it by the congers ; but the belief
that its tails grow again, as is the case with the gecko
and the lizard, is correct.

XLVI I. But among outstanding marvels is the The
creature called the nautilus, and by others the pilot- mut
fish. Lying on its back it comes to the surface of the
sea, gradually raising itself up in such a way that by
sending out all the water through a tube it so to speak
unloads itself of bilge and sails easily. Afterwards it
twists back its two foremost arms and spreads out
between them a marvellously thin membrane, and
with this serving as a sail in the breeze while it uses
its other arms underneath it as oars, it steers itself
with its tail between them as a rudder. So it pro-
ceeds across the deep mimicking the likeness of a fast
cutter, if any alarm interrupts its voyage submerging
itself by sucking in water.

XLVIII. One variety of the polypus kind is the
stink-polyp, named from the disagreeable smell of its

22T

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

gravi capitis odore, ob hoc maxime murenis earn
consectantibus.

Polypi binis mensibus conduntur. ultra bimatum
non vivunt ; pereunt autem tabe semper, feminae
celerius et fere a partu.

Non sunt praetereunda et L. Lucullo proconsule

90 Baeticae comperta de polypis quae Trebius Niger e
comitibus eius prodidit : avidissimos esse concharum,
illas ad tactum comprimi praecidentes bracchia
eorum ultroque escam ex praedante capere. carent
conchae visu omnique sensu alio quam cibi et periculi.
insidiantur ergo polypi apertis, impositoque lapillo
extra corpus, ne palpitatu eiciantur; ita securi
grassantur extrahuntque carnes; illae se contra
hunt, sed frustra, discuneatae: tanta sollertia

91 animalium hebetissimis quoque est. praeterea negat
ullum atrocius esse animal ad conficiendum hominem
in aqua ; luctatur enim complexu et sorbet acetabulis
ac numeroso suctu distrahit,1 cum in naufragos
urinantisve impetum cepit. sed si invertatur,
elanguescit vis; exporrigunt enim se resupinati.
cetera quae idem retulit monstro propiora possunt

92 videri. Carteiae in cetariis assuetus exire e mairi in

1 sic (cf. § 27) ? Mayhoff: trahit.

* Now Rocadillo, in Spain.
222

BOOK IX. XLVIII. 89-92

head, which causes it to be the special prey of the
lamprey.

Polyps go into hiding for periods of two months. The pol
They do not live more than two years ; but they ll^er
always die of consumption, the females more
quickly and usually as a result of bearing off-
spring.

We must also not pass over the facts as to the its diet
polyp ascertained when Lucius Lucullus was governor shett^ish'
of Baetica, and published by one of his staff,
Trebius Niger; he says that they are extremely
greedy for shell-fish, and that these close their shells
at a touch and cut off the polyp's tentacles, so re-
taliating by obtaining food from their would-be
robber. Shell-fish do not possess sight or any other
sense except consciousness of food and danger.
Consequently the polyps lie in wait for the shell-fish
to open, and placing a stone between the shells, not
on the fish's body so that it may not be ejected by
its throbbing, thus go to work at their ease, and drag
out the flesh, while the shell-fish try to shut up, but
in vain, as they are wedged open : so clever are even
the most stupid of animals. Moreover Niger asserts The polyp a
that no animal is more savage in causing the death ^Sf
of a man in the water ; for it struggles with him by
coiling round him and swallows him with its sucker-
cups and drags him asunder by its multiple suction,
when it attacks men that have been shipwrecked or
are diving. But should it be turned over, its strength
gets feebler; for when polyps are lying on their
backs they stretch themselves out. The rest of the
facts reported by the same authority may possibly
be thought to approximate to the miraculous. In A giant
the fishponds at Carteia* a polyp was in the habit of s^dmen-

223

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

lacus eorum apertos atque ibi salsamenta popular! ,
— mire omnibus marinis expetentibus ordorem
quoque eorum, qua de causa et nassis inlinuntur, —
convertit in se custodum indignationem assiduitate
furti immodicam.1 saepes erant obiectae, sed has
transcendebat per arborem, nee deprehendi potuit
nisi canum sagacitate. hi redeuntem circumvasere
noctu, concitique custodes expavere novitatem :
primum omnium magnitude inaudita erat, deinde
colos, muria obliti, odore diri; quis ibi polypum
exspectasset aut ita cognosceret? cum monstro
dimicare sibi videbantur, namque et afflatu terribili
canes angebat, nunc extremis crinibus flagellatos,
nunc robustioribus bracchiis clavarum modo incussos ;
&3 aegreque multis tridentibus confici potuit. ostendere
Lucullo caput eius dolii magnitudine amphorarum
xv capax atque, ut ipsius Trebi verbis utar, ' barbas
quas vix utroque bracchio conplecti esset, clavarum
modo torosas, longas pedum xxx, acetabulis sive
caliculis urnalibus pelvium modo, dentes magnitudini
respondentes. ' reliquiae adservatae miraculo pepen-
dere pondo DCC. saepias , quoque et lolligines
eiusdem magnitudinis expulsas in litus illud idem
auctor est. in nostro mari lolligines quinum cubi-
torum capiuntur, saepiae binum. neque his bimatu
longior vita.

1 Mayhoff : immodicant aut -ca.
224

BOOK IX. XLVIII. 92-93

getting into their uncovered tanks from the open sea
and there foraging for salted fish— even the smell of
which attracts all sea creatures in a surprising way,
owing to which even fish-traps are smeared with
them— and so it brought on itself the wrath of the
keepers, which owing to the persistence of the theft
was beyond all bounds Fences were erected in its
way, but it used to scale these by making use of a
tree, and it was only possible to catch it by means
of the keen scent of hounds. These surrounded it
when it was going back at night, and aroused the
guards, who were astounded by its strangeness:
in the first place its size was unheard of and so was
its colour as well, and it was smeared with brine and
had a terrible smell ; who would have expected to
find a polyp there, or who would recognize it in such
circumstances ? They felt they were pitted against
something uncanny, for by its awful breath it also
tormented the dogs, which it now scourged with the
ends of its tentacles and now struck with its longer
arms, which it used as clubs ; and with difficulty they
succeeded in despatching it with a number of three-
pronged harpoons. They showed its head to
Lucullus — it was as big as a cask and held 90 gallons,
— and (to use the words of Trebius himself) ' its
beards which one could hardly clasp round with both
one's arms, knotted like clubs, 30 ft. long, with
suckers or cups like basins holding three gallons, and
teeth corresponding to its size/ Its remains, kept
as a curiosity, were found to weigh 700 Ibs. Trebius jffe cvttu~
also states that cuttle-fish of both species of the
same size have been driven ashore on that coast.
In our own seas one kind is taken that measures
1\ ft. in length and the other kind 3 ft. These fish
also do not live more than two years. , :.

225

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

94 XLIX. Navigeram similitudinem et aliam in
Propontide visam sibi prodidit Mucianus : concham
esse acati modo carinatam, inflexa puppe, prora
rostrata. in hanc condi nauplium, animal saepiae
simile, ludendi societate sola, duobus hoc fieri
generibus : tranquillo enim vectorem demissis
palmulis ferire lit remis, si vero flatus invitent, easdem
in usum gubernaculi porrigi pandique concharum
sinus aurae. huius voluptatem esse ut ferat, illius
ut regat, simulque earn descendere in duo sensu
carentia, nisi forte — tristi id enim constat omini
navigantium — humana calamitas in causa est.

95 L. Locustae crusta fragili muniuntur in eo genera
quod caret sanguine, latent mensibus quinis;
similiter cancri qui eodem tempore occultantur ; et
ambo veris principio senectutem anguium more
exuunt renovatione tergorum. cetera in undis
natant, locustae reptantium modo fluitant ; si nullus
ingruat metus, recto meatu cornibus quae sunt pro-
pria rotunditate praepilata ad latera porrectis,
isdem erectis in pavore oblique in latera procedunt.
cornibus inter se dimicant. unum hoc animalium,
nisi vivum ferventi aqua incoquatur, fluida carne non

96 habet callum. vivunt petrosis locis, cancri mollibus.

a J.e. the imitation of a boat ; cf . § 88.
226

BOOK IX. XLIX. 94-L. 96

XLIX. Mucianus has stated that he has also seen The
in the Dardanelles another creature resembling
ship under sail : it is a shell with a keel like a boat,
and a curved stern and beaked bow. In this (he
says) the nauplius, a creature like the cuttle-fish,
secretes itself, merely by way of sharing the game.a
The manner in which this takes place is two-fold :
in calm weather the carrier shell strikes the water
by dipping its flappers like oars, but if the breezes
invite, the same flappers are stretched out to serve
as a rudder and the curves of the shells are spread to
the breeze. The former creature delights (he con-
tinues) to carry and the latter to steer, and this
pleasure penetrates two senseless things at once —
unless perhaps human calamity forms part of the
motive, for it is an established fact that this is a
disastrous omen for mariners.

L. In the bloodless class, the langouste is protected TI*
by a fragile rind. Langoustes stay in retirement for nffoua e'
five months in each year ; and likewise crabs, which
go into hiding at the same season ; and both species
discard their old age at the beginning of spring in
the same way as snakes do, by renewing their skins.
All other aquatic species swim, but langoustes float
about in the manner of reptiles; if no danger
threatens they go forward in a straight course with
their horns, which are buttoned by their own
rounded ends, stretched out at their sides, but at a
moment of alarm they advance slanting sideways
with their horns held erect. They use their horns
in fighting one another. The langouste is the only
animal whose flesh is of a yielding texture with no
hardness, unless it is boiled alive in hot water.
Langoustes live in rocky places, whereas crabs live on

227
Q2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

hieme aprica litora sectantur, aestate in opaca
gurgitum recedunt. omnia eius generis hieme
laeduntur, autumno et vere pinguescunt, et pleni-
lunio magiSj quia nocte sidus tepido fulgore mitificat.
97 LL Cancrorum genera carabi, astaci, maeae,
paguri, Heracleotici, leones et alia ignobiliora.
carabi cauda a ceteris cancris distant ; in Phoenice
hippoe vocantur, tantae velocitatis ut consequi non
sit. cancris vita longa. pedes octoni, omnes in
obliquom flexi; feminae primus pes duplex, mari
simplex, praeterea bina bracchia denticulatis for-
ficibus ; superior pars in primoribus his movetur
inferiore immobili. dexterum bracchium omnibus

98 maius. universi aliquando congregantur. os Ponti
evincere non valent, quamobrem egressi circumeunt
apparetque tritum iter. pinoteres vocatur minu-
mus ex omni genere, ideo opportunus iniuriae.
huic sollertia est inanium ostrearum testis se
condere et cum adcreverit migrare in capaci-

99 ores, cancri in pavore et retrorsi pain veloeitate
redeunt. dimicant inter se ut arietes, adversis
cornibus incursantes. contra serpentium ictus me-
dentur. sole cancri signum trans eunte et ipsorum,
cum exanimati sint, corpus transfigurari in scorpiones
narratur in sicco. ; ,

'0/.HI09.

1 The comoKon ora^^ the identifications of the varieties
thafe follow are dubious, ;

BOOK IX. L. 96-Li. 99

soft mud. In winter they haunt sunny shores, but
in summer they retire into the dim depths of the sea.
All creatures of this class suffer in winter, but get
fat in autumn and spring, and more so at full moon,
"because the moon mellows them with its warm glow
by night.a

LI. The kinds of crab are the carabusf the crayfish, varieties
,the spider-crab, the hermit-crab, the Heraclean crab, °fcrab-
the lion-crab and other inferior species. The carabus
differs from the other crabs by its tail ; in Phoenicia
it is called the horse-crab, being so swift that it is im-
possible to overtake it. Crabs are long-lived. They
have eight feet, all curved crooked; the front foot
is double in the female and single in the male. They
also have two claws with denticulated nippers ; the
upper half of the forepart of these moves and the
lower half is fixed. The right claw is the larger in
every specimen. Sometimes crabs allcollect together
in a flock. They cannot make the mouth of the
Black ,Sea against the current, and consequently
when they are going out of it they travel round in
a circle and appear to be following a beaten track.
The one called the pea-crab is the smallest of the
whole tribe, and consequently very liable to injury.
It has the cunning to stow itself in empty bivalve
shells and to shift into roomier ones as it grows
bigger. When alarmed crabs can retreat back-
wards with equal speed. They fight duels with one
another like rams, charging with horns opposed.
They afford a remedy against snake-bite. It is
related that when the sun is passing through the
sign of Cancer the bodies of crabs also when they
expire are transformed into scorpions during, the
drought.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

100 Ex eodem genere sunt echini quibus spinae pro
pedibus. ingredi est his in orbem volvi, itaque
detritis saepe aculeis inveniuntur. ex his echino-
metrae appellantur quorum spinae longissimae, caly-
ces minimi, nee omnibus idem vitreus colos : circa
Toronem candidi nascuntur spina parva. ova om-
nium amara, quina numero. ora in medio corpore
in terram versa, tradunt saevitiam maris praesagire
eos correptisque opperiri lapillis mobilitatem pondere
stabilientes : nolunt volutatione spinas atterere ;
quod ubi videre nautici, statim pluribus anchoris
navigia infrenant.

101 In eodem genere cocleae aquatiles terrestresque
exerentes se domicilio binaque ceu cornua protend-
entes contrahentesque. oculis carent, itaque corni-
culis praetemptant iter.

Pectines in mari ex eodem genere habentur,
reconditi et ipsi magnis frigoribus ac magnis aestibus,
unguesque velut igne lucent es in tenebris, etiam in
ore mandentium.

102 LIL Firmioris iam testae murices et concharum
genera, in quibus magna ludentis naturae varietas :
tot colorum differentiae, tot figurae, planis, concavis,
longis, lunatis, in orbem circumactis, dimidio orbe
caesis, in dorsum elatis, levibus, rugatis, denticulatis,
striatis ; vertice muricatim intorto, margine in mucro-

* In point of fact they have black eyes unfolded with the
horns*

230

BOOK IX. LI. IOO-LII. 102

The sea-urchin, which has spines instead of feet, The echinus.
belongs to the same genus. These creatures can
only go forward by rolling over and over, and
consequently they are often found with their
prickles worn off. Those of them with the longest
spines are called echinus cidaris, and the smallest
are called cups. They have not all the same
transparent colour : in the district of Torone some
are born white, with a small spine. The eggs of all
have a bitter taste ; they are laid in clutches of five.
Their mouths are in the middle of their body, on the
under side. It is said that they can forecast a rough
sea and that they take the precaution of clutching
stones and steadying their mobility by the weight :
they do not want to wear away their spines by rolling
about. When sailors see them doing this they at
once secure their vessels with more anchors.

In the same family are water and land snails, that The snail
protrude out of their abode and shoot out and draw c ass'
in two horns as it were. They have no eyes,a and
consequently explore the way in front of them with
their little horns.

Sea-scallops are held to belong to the same class,
which also retire into hiding at seasons of extreme
cold and extreme heat; and piddocks, which shine
as if with fire in dark places, even in the mouth of
persons eating them.

LII. We now come to the purples and the Purples and
varieties of shell-fish, which have a stronger shell. $£. shell~
The latter display in great variety nature's love of
sport : they show so many differences of colour, and
also of shape — being flat, hollow, long, crescent-
shaped, circular, semi-circular, humped, smooth,
wrinkled, serrated, furrowed; with the crest bent

251

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

103 nem ernisso, foris .effuso, intus replicato ; iam dis-
tinctione virgulata, crinita, crispa, canaliculalim,
pectinatim divisa, imbricatim undata, cancellatim
reticulata, in obliquum, in rectum expansa, densata,
porrecta, sinuata; brevi nodo ligatis, toto latere
conexis, ad plausum apertis, ad bucinam 1 recurvis.
navigant ex his Veneriae, praebentesque concavam
sui partem et aurae opponentes per summa aequorum
velificant. saliunt pectines et extra volitant, seque
et ipsi carinant.

104 LIIL Sed quid haec tarn parva commemoro,
cum populatio morum atque luxuria non ajiunde
maior quam e concharum genere proveniat? iam
quidem ex tota rerum natura damnosissimum
ventri mare est tot modis, tot mensis, tot piscium

105 saporibus quis pretia capientium periculo fiunt. sed
quota haec portio est reputantibus purpuras, con-
chylia, margaritas ! parum scilicet fuerat in gulas
condi maria, nisi manibus, auribus, capite totoque
corpore a feminis iuxta virisque gestarentur. quid
mari cum vestibus, quid undis fluctibusque cum
vellere? non recte recipit haec nog' rerum natura
nisi nudos 1 esto? sit tanta ventri cum eo societag :

1 Eddf :
252

BOOK IX. LII. 102-Liii. 105

into the shape of a purple, the edge projecting
into a sharp point, or spread outwards, or folded
inwards ; and again picked out with stripes or with
flowing locks or with curls, or parted in little channels
or like the teeth of a comb, or corrugated like tiles,
or reticulated into lattice-work, or spread out slant-
wise or straight, close-packed, diffused, curled;
tied up in a short knot, or linked up all down the side,
or opened so as to shut with a snap, or curved so as
to make a trumpet. Of this species the Venus-shell
sails like a ship, and projecting its hollow portion and
setting it to catch the wind goes voyaging over the
surface of the water. The scallop gives a leap and
soars out of the water, and it also uses its own shell as
a boat. ,

LIIL But why do I mention these trifles when their
moral corruption and luxury spring from no other S<
source in greater abundance than from the genus corruption.
shell-fish ? It is true that of the whole of nature
the sea is most detrimental to the stomach in a
multitude of ways, with its multitude of dishes
and of appetizing kinds of fish to which the profits
made by those who catch them spell danger. But
what proportion do these form when we con-
sider purple and scarlet robes and pearls ! It had
been insufficient, forsooth, for the seas to be
stowed into our gullets, were they not carried on
the hands and in the ears and on the head and all
over the body of women and men alike. What
connexion is there between the sea and our clothing,
between the waves and waters' and woollen fabric ?
We only enter that element in a proper manner
when we are naked ! Granted thai; there is so
close an alliance between it and our stomach, but

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quid tergori ! parum est nisi qui vescimur periculis
etiam vestiamur? adeo per totum corpus anima
hominis quaesita maxime placent?

106 LIV. Principium ergo columenque omnium rerum
preti margaritae tenant. Indicus maxime has mittit
oceanus inter illas beluas tales tantasque quas
diximus per tot maria venientes tarn longo terrarum
tractu e tantis solis ardoribus. atque Indis quoque
in insulas petuntur et admodum paucas : fertilissima
est Taprobane et Stoidis, ut diximus in circuitu
mundi, item Perimula promunturium Indiae ; prae-
cipue autem laudantur circa Arabiam in Persico
sinu maris Rubri.

107 Origo atque genitura conchae sunt 1 haut multum
ostrearum conchis differentes.2 has ubi genitalis
anni stimulavit hora,pandentes se quadam oscitatione
impleri roscido conceptu tradunt, gravidas postea
eniti, partumque concharum esse margaritas, pro
qualitate roris accepti : si purus influxerit, candorem
conspici, si vero turbid us, et fetum sordescere.
eundem pallere caelo minante: conceptum ex eo
quippe constare, caelique eis maiorem societatem
esse quam maris, inde nubilum trahi colorem aut pro

108 claritate matutina serenum. si tempestive satientur
grandescere et partus. si fulguret, comprimi con-

1 MayTioff: est. 2 Mayhoff: different.

0 See §§ 4 f. above. * VI 81 and 110.

c The story is of course imaginary.

234

BOOK IX. LIII. 105-Liv. 108

what has it to do with our backs ? Are we not
content to feed on dangers without also being clothed
with them? Is it that the rule that we get most
satisfaction from luxuries costing a human life to
procure holds good for the whole of our anatomy ?

LIV. The first place therefore and the topmost Pearl*-
rank among all things of price is held by pearls.
These are sent chiefly by the Indian Ocean, among
the huge and curious animals that we have described a
as coming across all those seas over that wide
expanse of lands from those burning heats of the
sun. And to procure them for the Indians as well,
men go to the islands — and those quite few in
number: the most productive is Ceylon, and also
Stoidis, as we said 6 in our circuit of the world, and also
the Indian promontory of Perimula ; but those round
Arabia on the Persian Gulf of the Red Sea are
specially praised.

The source and breeding-ground of pearls are The pearl-
shells not much differing from oyster-shells. These, ^
we are told,c when stimulated by the generative season
of the year gape open as it were and are filled with
dewy pregnancy, and subsequently when heavy are
delivered, and the offspring of the shells are pearls
that correspond to the quality of the dew received :
if it was a pure inflow, their brilliance is conspicuous
but if it was turbid, the product also becomes dirty in
colour. Also if the sky is lowering (they say) the pearl
is pale in colour : for it is certain that it was conceived
from the sky, and that pearls have more connexion
with the sky than with the sea, and derive from it a
cloudy hue, or a clear one corresponding with a
brilliant morning. If they are well fed in due season,
the offspring also grows in size. If there is lightning,

235

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

chas ac pro ieiunii modo minui ; si vero etiam tonue-
rit, pavidas ac repente compressas quae vocant physe-
mata efficere, specie modo inani inflatas sine corpore ;
hos esse concharum abortus, sard quidern partus
multiplici constant cute, non improprie callum ut
existimari corporis possit; itaque expurgantur a

109 peritis. miror ipso tantum eas caelo gaudere, sole
rubescere candoremque perdere ut corpus humanum ;
quare praecipuum custodiunt pelagiae, altius mersae
quam ut penetrent radii ; flavescunt tamen et illae
senecta rugisque torpescunt, nee nisi in iuventa
constat ille qui quaeritur vigor.1 crassescunt etiam
in senecta conchisque adhaerescunt, nee his evelli
queunt nisi lima, quibus una tantum est facies et ab
ea rotunditas, aversis planities, ob id tympania
nominantur; cohaerentes vidimus2 in conchis, hac
dote unguenta circumferentibus. cetero in acjua
mollis unio, exemptus protinus durescit.

110 LV. Concha ipsa cum manum vidit comprimit sese
operitque opes suas gnara propter illas se peti,
manumque, si praeveniat, acie sua abscidat nulla
iustlore poena, et aliis munita suppliciis, quippe inter
scopulos maior pars invenitur, sed in alto quoque
comitantibus 3 marinis canibus; nee tarqen auj-es

HI feminarum arcentur. quidam tradunt sicut'api^us

1 An nitor ? Mayhoff. 2 Hardouin ; videioiiis.

3 Mayhoff:

dayhoff: comitantur.
0 Le, skarks.

236

BOOK IX. LIV. io8-Lv. in

the shells shut up, and diminish in size in proportion
to their abstinence from food ; but if it also thunders
they are frightened and shut up suddenly, producing
what are called ' wind-pearls,' which are only inflated
with an empty, unsubstantial show: these are the
pearls' miscarriages. Indeed a healthy offspring is
formed with a skin of many thicknesses, so that it
may not improperly be considered as a hardening of
the body ; and consequently experts subject them to
a cleansing process. I am surprised that though
pearls rejoice so much in the actual sky, they redden
and lose their whiteness in the sun, like the human
body; consequently sea-pearls preserve a special
brilliance, being too deeply immersed for the rays to
penetrate ; nevertheless even they get yellow from
age and doze off with wrinkles, and the vigour that
is sought after is only found in youth. Also in old
age they get thick and stick to the shells, and cannot
be torn out of these except by using a file. Pearls with
only one surface, and round on that side but flat at
the back, are consequently termed tambourine pearls ;
we have seen them clustering together in shells that
owing to this enrichment were used for carrying round
perfumes. For the rest, a large pearl is soft when in
the water but gets hard as soon as it is taken out.

LV. When a shell sees a hand it shuts itself up Dmng
and conceals its treasures, as it knows that it is pearlSt
sought for on their account; and if the hand is
inserted first it cuts it off with its sharp edge, the
most just penalty possible — for it is armed with
other penalties also, as for the most part it is found
among rocks, while even in deep water it has sea-
dogs a in attendance — yet nevertheless these do not
protect it against women's ears! Some accounts

237

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ita concharum examinibus singulas magnitudine et
vetustate praecipuas esse veluti duces mirae ad
cavendum sollertiae ; has urinantium cura peti, illis
captis facile ceteras palantes retibus includi, multo
demde obrutas sale in vasis fictilibus; rosa carne
omni nucleos quosdam corporum, hoc est uniones,
decidere in ima.

112 LVL Usu atteri non dubium est, coloremque
indiligentia mutare. dos omnis in candore, magni-
tudine, orbe, levore, pondere, haut promptis rebus
in tantum ut nulli duo reperiantur indiscreti:
unde nomen unionum Romanae scilicet imposuere
deliciae, nam id apud Graecos non est, nee apud
barbaros quidem, inventores rei1 eius, aliud quam

113 margaritae. et in candore ipso magna differentia;
clarior in Rubro mari repertis, in 2 Indico specu-
larium lapidum squamas adsimulant,3 alias magni-
tudine praecellentes. summa laus coloris est exalu-
minatos vocari. et procerioribus sua gratia est.
elenchos appellant fastigata longitudine alabastrorum

114= figura in pleniorem orbem desinentes. hos digitis
suspendere et binos ac ternos auribus feminarum
gloria estj subeuntque luxuriae eius nomina externa,4
exquisita perdito nepotatu, siquidem, cum id fecere,
crotalia appellant, ceu sono quoque gaudeant et

1 rei add. Mayhoff. 2 in add. Mayhoff.

8 Mayhoff : adsimulat. 4 Mayhoff : nomina et taedia.

0 The Persian Gulf is meant ; c/. § 106.
238

BOOK IX. LV. III-LVI. 114

say that clusters of shells like bees have one of their
number, a specially large and old shell, as their
leader, one marvellously skilful in taking precau-
tions; and that these leader-shells are diligently
sought for by pearl-divers, as when they are caught
all the rest stray about and easily get shut up in the
nets, subsequently a quantity of salt being poured
over them in earthenware jars; this eats away all
the flesh, and a sort of kernels in their bodies, which
are pearls, fall to the bottom.

LVL There is no doubt that pearls are worn away varieties in
by use, and that lack of care makes them change ^^J tjv*
their colour. Their whole value lies in their bril-
liance, size, roundness, smoothness and weight,
qualities of such rarity that no two pearls are found
that are exactly alike : this is doubtless the reason
why Roman luxury has given them the name of
' unique gems,' the word unto not existing in Greece,
and indeed among foreign races, who discovered this
fact, the only name for them is margarita. There is
also a great variety in their actual brilliance ; it is
brighter with those found in the Red Sea,a whereas
those found in the Indian Ocean resemble flakes of
mica, though they excel others in size. The highest
praise given to their colour is for them to be called
alum-coloured. The longer ones also have a charm
of their own. Those that end in a wider circle,
tapering lengthwise in the shape of perfume-caskets,
are termed * probes. ' Women glory in hanging these
on their fingers and using two or three for a single-
earring, and foreign names for this luxury occur,
names invented by abandoned extravagance, inas-
much as when they have done this they call them
* castanets,' as if they enjoyed even the sound and

239

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

collisu ipso margaritarum ; cupiuntque iam et
pauperes, lictorem feminae in publico unionem esse
dictitantes. quin et pedibus, nee crepidarum
tantum obstragulis set totis socculis addunt. neque
enim gestare iam margaritas nisi calcent ac per
uniones etiam ambulent, satis est.

115 In nostro mari reperiri solebant, crebrius cirOa Bos-
porum Thracium, rufi ac parvi in conchis quas myas
appellant, at in Acarnania quae vocatur pina 1
gignit ; quo apparet non in 2 uno conchae genere
nasci, namque et luba tradit Arabicis concham esse
similem pectini insecto, hirsutam echinorum modo,
ipsum unionem in carne grandini similem ; conchae
non tales ad nos afferuntur. nee in Acarnania ante 3
laudati reperiuntur, enormes et fere 4 colons 5
naarmorei. meliores circa Actium, sed et hi parvi^
et in Mauretaniae maritimis. Alexander polyhistor
et Sudines senescere eos putant coloremque expirarel

116 LVII. Firmum 6 corpus esse manifestum est,
quod nullo lapsu franguntur. non autem semper in
media carne reperiuntur sed aliis atque aliis locis,
vidimusque iam in extremis etiam marginibus velut
e concha exeunt es, et in quibusdam quaternos qui-
nosque. pondus ad hoc aevi semunciae pauci

1 Sittig : pinna.

2 in add. Mackhym.

3 aoite edd, : autem.

4 fere eddf : feri.

6 coloris t Brotier : colorisque.
* * MayJioffi eorum.

240

BOOK IX. LVI. H4-LVII. 116

the mere rattling together of the pearls ; and now-a-
days even poor people covet them — it is a common
saying that a pearl is as good as a lackey for a lady
when she walks abroad 1 And they even use them
on their feet, and fix them not only to the laces
of their sandals but all over their slippers. In fact,
by this time they are not content with wearing
pearls unless they tread on them, and actually walk
on these unique gems!

There used to be commonly found in our own sea, provenance
and more frequently on the coasts of the Thracian of pearls,
Bosphorus, small red gems contained in the shells
called mussels. But in Acarnania there grows what
is termed the sea-pen; which shows that pearls are
not born in only one kind of shell, for Juba also
records that the Arabs have a shell resembling a
toothed comb, that bristles like a hedgehog, and has
an actual pearl, resembling a hailstone, in the fleshy
part; this kind of shell is not imported to Rome.
And there are not found in Acarnania the formerly
celebrated pearls of an exceptional size and almost
a marble colour. Better ones are found round
Actium, but these too are small, and in sea-board
Mauretania. Alexander the Encyclopaedist and
Sudines think that they grow old and let their colour
evaporate.

LVII. It is clear that they are of a firm substance, Position in,
because no fall can break them. Also they are noit]tes7teUt
always found in the middle of the flesh, but in a
variety of places, and before now we have seen them
even at the extreme edges, as though in the act of
passing out of the shell ; and in some cases we have
seen four or five pearls in one shell. In weight few
specimens have hitherto exceeded half an, ounce by

241

VOL. III. R

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

singulis scripulis excessere. in Britannia parvos
atque decolores nasci certum est, quoniam divus
luh'us thoracem quern Veneri Genetrici in templo
eius dicavit ex Britannicis margaritisfactumvoluerit
intellegi.

117 LVIII. Lolliam Paulinam, quae fuit Gai principis
matrona, ne serio quidem aut sollemni caerimoniarum
aliquo apparatu sed mediocrium etiam sponsalium
cena vidi smaragdis margaritisque opertam alterno
textu fulgentibus toto capite, crinibus, [spira] 1
auribus, collo, [monilibus] 2 digitis, quae 3 summa
quadringenties sestertium colligebat, ipsa confestim
parata mancupationem tabulis probare ; nee dona
prodigi principis fuerant, sed avitae opes, provinci-

118 arum scilicet spoliis partae. hie est rapinarum
exitus, hoc fuit quare M. Lollius infamatus regum
muneribus in toto oriente interdicta amicitia a C.
Caesare August! filio venenum biberet, ut neptis
eius quadringenties HS operta spectaretur ad lucer-
nas ! computet nunc aliquis ex altera parte quantum
Curius aut Fabricius in triumphis tulerint, imaginetur
illorum fercula, et ex altera parte Lolliam unam
imperatori4 mulierculam accubantem: non illos

119 curru detractos quam in hoc vicisse malit ? nee haec
summa luxuriae exempla sunt. duo fuere maximi
uniones per omne aevum ; utrumque possedit
Cleopatra Aegypti reginarum novissima per manus

1 Friedlaender. 2 Iriedlaender.

3 Mayhoff : que. 4 Dalecamp : imperil.

a They are found occasionally in the ordinary mussel,
oyster and pinna, but especially in the common fresh- water
mussel.

* Say a third of a million pounds gold.
242

BOOK IX. LVII. ii6-Lvm. 119

more than one scruple. It is established that small
pearls of poor colour grow in Britain,a since the late
lamented Julius desired it to be known that the
breastplate which he dedicated to Venus Genetrix
in her temple was made of British pearls.

LVIII. I have seen Lollia Paulina, who became Pearls of
the consort of Gams, not at some considerable or eS^Qml
solemn ceremonial celebration but actually at an
ordinary betrothal banquet, covered with emeralds
and pearls interlaced alternately and shining all over
her head, hair, ears, neck and fingers, the sum total
amounting to the value of 40,000,000 sesterces,6 she
herself being ready at a moment's notice to give
documentary proof of her title to them ; nor had they
been presents from an extravagant emperor, but
ancestral possessions, acquired in fact with the spoil
of the provinces. This is the final outcome of
plunder, it was for this that Marcus Lollius disgraced
himself by taking gifts from kings in the whole of
the East, and was cut out of his list of friends
by Gaius Caesar son of Augustus and drank poison
— that his granddaughter should be on show in the
lamplight covered with 40,000,000 sesterces! Now
let some one reckon up on one side of the account
how much Curius or Fabricius carried in their
triumphs, and picture to himself the spoils they
displayed, and on the other side Lollia, a single little
lady recHning at the Emperor's side — and would he
not think it better that they should have been dragged
from their chariots than have won their victories with
this result ? Nor are these the topmost instances of
luxury. There have been two pearls that were the Cleopatra?*
largest in the whole of history ; both were owned by peaT '
Cleopatra, the last of the Queens of Egypt — they

243

R2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

orientis regum sibi traditos. haec, cum exquisitis
cotidie Antoiiius saginaretur epulis, superbo simul
ac procaci fastu, ut regina meretrix, lautitiam eius
apparatumque omnem1 obtrectans, quaerente eo
quid adstrui magniiicentiae posset respondit mu se

J20 cena centiens HS 2 absumpturam. cupiebat discere
Antonius, sed fieri posse non arbitrabatur. ergo
sponsionibus factis postero die, quo iudicium age-
batur, magnincam alias cenam, ne dies periret, sed
cotidianam, Antonio apposuit inridenti computa-
tionemque expostulanti. at ilia corollarium id
esse, et consurnmaturam 3 earn cenam 4 taxationem
confirmans solamque se centiens HS cenaturam,
inferri mensam secundam iussit. ex praecepto
ministri unum tantum vas ante earn posuere aceti,
cuius asperitas visque in tabem margaritas resolvit.

121 gerebat auribus cum maxime singulare illud et vere
unicum naturae opus, itaque expectante Antonio
quidnam esset actura detractum alterum mersit ac
liquefactum obsorbuit. iniecit alteri manum L.
Plancus, iudex sponsionis eius, eum quoque parante
simili modo absumere, victumque Antorrium pro-
nuntiavit omine rato. comitatur fama unionis eius
parem, capta ilia tantae quaestionis victrice regina,

1 omnem hie ? Mayhoff: ante apparatumque.

2 centiens HS add. edd.

3 MayJioff(cf. viii. 183) : consumpturam.

4 se in ea cena edd.

0 Of. XI 14 nuHus pent otio dies.

6 No such vinegar exists ,* Cleopatra no doubt swallowed the
pearl in vinegar knowing that it could be recovered later on.

244

BOOK IX. LVIII. 119-121

had come down to her through the hands of the
Kings of the East. When Antony was gorging daily at
recherche banquets, she with a pride at once lofty and
insolent, queenly wanton as she was, poured contempt
on all his pomp and splendour, and when he asked
what additional magnificence could be contrived,
replied that she would spend 10,000,000 sesterces on
a single banquet. Antony was eager to learn how
it could be done, although he thought it was impos-
sible. Consequently bets were made, and on the
next day, when the matter was to be decided, she set
before Antony a banquet that was indeed splendid,
so that the day might not be wasted,a but of the kind
served every day — Antony laughing and expostu-
lating at its niggardliness. But she vowed it was a
mere additional douceur, and that the banquet would
round off the account and her own dinner alone would
cost 10,000,000 sesterces, and she ordered the second
course to be served. In accordance with previous
instructions the servants placed in front of her only a
single vessel containing vinegar, the strong rough
quality of which can melt pearls.6 She was at the
moment wearing in her ears that remarkable and
truly unique work of nature. Antony was full of
curiosity to see what in the world she was going to
do. She took one earring off and dropped the pearl
in the vinegar, and when it was melted swallowed it.
Lucius Plancus, who was umpiring the wager, placed
his hand on the other pearl when she was preparing
to destroy it also in a similar way, and declared that
Antony had lost the battle — an ominous remark that
came true. With this goes the story that, when that
queen who had won on this important issue was
captured, the second of this pair of pearls was

4s

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dissectum, ut esset in utrisque Veneris auribus Romae

122 in Pantheo dimidia eorum cena. LIX. non ferent hanc
palmam, spoliabunturque etiam luxuriae gloria.
prior id fecerat Romae in unionibus magnae taxationis
Clodius tragoedi Aesopi fills,, relictus ab eo in amplis
opibus hereSj ne triumvir atu suo nimis superbiat
Antonius paene histrioni comparatus, et quidem
nulla sponsione ad hoc product o, quo magis regium
fiat, sed ut experiretur in gloriam l palati quidnam
saperent margaritae; atque ut mire placuere, ne
solus hoc sciret, singulos uniones convivis quoque
absorbendos dedit.

123 Romae in promiscuum ac frequentem usum venisse
Alexandria in dicionem redacta, primum autem
coepisse circa Sullana tempora minutas et viles
Fenestella tradit manifesto errore, cum Aelius Stilo
circa 2 Jugurthinum bellum unionum nomen imponi-
cum maxime grandibus margaritis prodat.

124 LX. Et hoc tamen aeternae prope possessionis est
— sequitur heredem, in mancipatum venit ut praedi-
um aliquod : conchylia et purpuras omnis hora atterit,
quibus eadem mater luxuria paria paene ac 3
margaritis pretia fecit.

125 Purpurae vivunt annis plurimum septenis. latent
sicut murices circa canis ortum tricenis diebus.
congregantur verno tempore, mutuoque attritu

1 Maykoff: gloria. * circa addf Mayhoff.

et.

a I.e. Ajitony and Cleopatra. 6 47 B.C.
c dictator 81-79 B.C. * 112-106 B.C.

246

BOOK IX. LVIII. 121-tx. 125

cut in two pieces, so that half a helping of the jewel
might be in each of the ears of Venus in the Pantheon
at Rome. LIX. They a will not carry off this trophy. An earli
and will be robbed even of the record for ^-
luxury ! A predecessor had done this at Rome in the
case of pearls of great value, Clodius, the son of the
tragic actor Aesopus, who had left him his heir in a
vast estate; so that Antony cannot take too much
pride in his triumvirate when compared with one
who was virtually an actor, and who had indeed been
led on to this display not by any wager — which would
make it more royal — but to discover by experiment,
for the honour of his palate, what is the exact flavour
of pearls; and when they proved marvellously
acceptable, in order not to keep the knowledge to
himself he gave his guests also a choice pearl apiece
to swallow.

Fenestella records that they came into common When
use at Rome after the reduction of Alexandria under W<
our sway,6 but that small and cheap pearls first came
in about the period of Sulla c — which is clearly a
mistake, as Aelius Stilo states that the distinctive
name was given to large pearls just at the time of
the wars d of Jugurtha.

LX. And nevertheless this article is an almost
everlasting piece of property — it passes to its
owner's heir, it is offered for public sale like some
landed estate; whereas every hour of use wears
away robes of scarlet and purple, which the same
mother, luxury, has made almost as costly as pearls.

Purples live seven years at most. They stay Habits of the
in hiding like the murex for 30 days at the time of
the rising of the dog-star. They collect into shoals
in spring-time, and their rubbing together causes

247

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

lentorem cuiusdam cerae salivant. simili modo et
murices, sed purpurae florem ilium tinguendis
expetitum vestibus in mediis habent faucibus :

126 liquoris hie minimi est * Candida vena unde pretiosus
ille bibitur, nigrantis rosae colore sublucens; re-
liquum corpus sterile, vivas capere contendunt,
quia cum vita sucum eum evomunt; et maioribus
quidem purpuris detracta concha auferunt, minores
cum testa vivas frangunt, ita demum eum exspuentes.

127 Tyri praecipuus hie Asiae, Meninge Africae et
Gaetulo litore oceani, in Laconica Europae. fasces
huic securesque Romanae viam faciunt, idemque
pro maiestate pueritiae est; distinguit ab equite
curiam, dis advocatur placandis, omnemque vestem
inluminatj in triumphali iniscetur auro. quapropter
excusata et purpurae sit insania ; sed unde conchyliis
pretia, quis virus grave in fuco, color austerus in
glauco et irascenti similis mari?

128 Lingua purpurae longitudine digitali, qua pascitur
perforando reliqua conchylia: tanta duritia aculeo
est. aquae dulcedine necantur et sicubi flumen
inmergitur, alioqui captae et diebus quinquagenis
vivunt saliva sua. conchae omnes celerrime cres-
cunt, praecipue purpurae; anno magnitudinem
implent.

1 Mayhoff : est in.

0 The references are to the purple stripes on the togas of
consuls, boys of noble family, senators (who had the broad
stripe), equites, and priests performing sacrifices.

248

BOOK IX. LX. 125-128

them to discharge a sort of waxy viscous slime. The
murex also does this in a similar manner, but it has
the famous flower of purple, sought after for dyeing
robes, in the middle of its throat : here there is a
white vein of very scanty fluid from which that
precious dye, suffused with a dark rose colour, is
drained, but the rest of the body produces nothing.
People strive to catch this fish alive, because it
discharges this juice with its life; and from the
larger purples they get the juice by stripping off
the shell, but they crush the smaller ones alive with
the shell, as that is the only way to make them dis-
gorge the juice. The best Asiatic purple is at Tyre,
the best African is at Meninx and on the Gaetulian
coast of the Ocean, the best European in the district
of Sparta. The official rods and axes of Rome clear purple robes
it a path, and it also marks the honourable estate Qf°fstate'
boyhood ; it distinguishes the senate from the knight-
hood, it is called in to secure the favour of the gods a ;
and it adds radiance to every garment, while in a
triumphal robe it is blended with gold. Consequently
even the mad lust for the purple may be excused ;
but what is the cause of the prices paid for purple-
shells, which have an unhealthy odour when used for
dye and a gloomy tinge in their radiance resembling
an angry sea?

The purple's tongue is an inch long; whtn More details
feeding it uses it for piercing a hole in the other
kinds of shell-fish, so hard is its point. These fish
die in fresh water and wherever a river discharges
into the sea, but otherwise when caught they live as
much as seven weeks on their own sHme. All shell-
fish grow with extreme rapidity, especially the
purple-fish; they reach their full size in a year.

249

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

129 LXI. Quod si hactenus transcurrat expositio
fraudatam profecto se luxuria credat nosque indili-
gentiae damnet. quamobrem persequemur etiam
officinas, ut tamquam in victu frugum noscitur ratio
sic omnes qui istis gaudent in 1 praemio 2 vitae suae

130 calleant. concharum ad purpuras et conchylia —
eadem enim est materia, sed distat temperamento —
duo sunt genera : bucinum minor concha ad simili-
tudinem eius qua bucinae3 sonus editur, unde et
causa nominis,4 rotunditate oris in margine incisa;
alterum purpura vocatur canaliculate procurrente
rostro et canaliculi latere introrsus tubulate, qua
proferatur lingua; praeterea clavatum est ad tur-
binem usque aculeis in orb em septenis fere, qui non
sunt bucino, sed utrisque orbes totidem quot habeant
annos. bucinum nonnisi petris adhaeret circaque
scopulos legitur.

131 Purpurae nomine alio pelagiae vocantur. earum
genera plura pabulo et solo discreta : lutense putre
limo et algense nutriturn 5 alga, vilissimum utrumque.
melius taeniense in taeniis maris collectum, hoc
quoque tamen etiamnum levius atque dilutius.
calculense appellatur a calculo in 6 mari mire aptum
conchyliis; et longe optimum purpuris dialutense,

1 in add. MayJioff. 2 v.L praemia.

3 HacJcham : bncini. * MayJioff : nomini.

250

BOOK IX. LXI. 129-131

LXI. But if having come to this point our exposi- Kinds of
tion were to pass over elsewhere, luxury would ^"^
undoubtedly believe itself defrauded and would find pwpte a™*
us guilty of remissness. For this reason we will scar e yes'
pursue the subject of manufactures as well, so that
just as the principle of foodstuffs is learnt in food,
so everybody who takes pleasure in the class of things
in question may be well-informed on the subject of
that which is the prize of their mode of life. Shell-
fish supplying purple dyes and scarlets — the material
of these is the same but it is differently blended —
are of two kinds: the whelk is a smaller shell
resembling the one that gives out the sound of a
trumpet, whence the reason of its name, by means
of the round mouth incised in its edge ; the other
is called the purple, with a channelled beak
jutting out and the side of the channel tube-shaped
inwards, through which the tongue can shoot out;
moreover it is prickly all round, with about seven
spikes forming a ring, which are not found in the
whelk, though both shells have as many rings
as they are years old. The trumpet-shell clings
only to rocks and can be gathered round crags.

Another name used for the purple is ' pelagia.3 Their
There are several kinds, distinguished by their JSgj*8**
food and the ground they live on. The mud-
purple feeds on rotting slime and the seaweed-
purple on seaweed, both being of a very common
quality. A better kind is the reef-purple, collected
on the reefs of the sea, though this also is lighter and
softer as well. The pebble-purple is named after a
pebble in the sea, and is remarkably suitable for
purple dyes; and far the best for these is the

5 MayJioff : emitritum. 6 in add. MayTwff.

251

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

132 id est vario soli genere pastum. capiuntur autem
purpurae parvulis rarisque textu veluti nassis in
alto iactis. inest his esca, clusiles mordacesque
conchae, ceu mitulos videmus. has semineces sed
redditas mari avido hiatu reviviscentes appetunt
purpurae porrectisque linguis infestant. at illae
aculeo extimulatae claudunt sese comprimuntque
mordentia. its pendentes aviditate sua purpurae
tolluntur.

133 LXII. Capi eas post cards ortum aut ante vernum
tempus utilissimum, quoniam, cum cerificavere, fluxos
habent sucos. sed id tinguentium officinae ignorant,
cum summa vertatur in eo. eximitur postea vena
quam diximus, cui addi salem necessarium, sextarios
ferme centenas in libras; macerari triduo iustum,
quippe tanto maior vis quanto recentior, fervere in
plumbOj singulasque amphoras aquae,1 quingua-
genas2 medicaminis libras aequali3 ac modico vapore
torreri adducto 4 longinquae fornacis cnniculo. it a
despumatis subinde carnibus quas adhaesisse venis
necesse est, decimo ferme die liquata cortina vellus
elutriatum mergitur in experimentum et, donee
spei satis fiat, uritur liquor, rubens color nigrante

134 deterior. quinis lana potat horis rursusque mergitur

1 Deilefsen : amphoras centenas atque.

2 edd. noTWulU : quingentenas.

3 Jan : aequari.

4 adducto (an ez aeneo ?) MayTxff : et ideo.
252

BOOK IX. LXI. 131-LXii. 134

melting-purple, that is, one fed on a varying kind sow caught,
of mud. Purples are taken in a sort of little
lobster-pot of fine ply thrown into deep water.
These contain bait, cockles that close with a snap,
as we observe that mussels do. These when half-
killed but put back into the sea gape greedily as they
revive and attract the purples, which go for them
with outstretched tongues. But the cockles when
pricked by their spike shut up and nip the
creatures nibbling them. So the purples hang
suspended because of their greed and are lifted
out of the water.

LXII. It is most profitable for them to be taken Preparation
after the rising of the dog-star or before spring-time, lie^i^of
since when they have waxed themselves over with varieties.
slime, they have their juices fluid. But this fact is
not known to the dyers' factories, although it is
of primary importance. Subsequently the vein
of which we spoke a is removed, and to this salt
has to be added, about a pint for every hundred
pounds; three days is the proper time for it to be
steeped (as the fresher the salt the stronger it is),
and it should be heated in a leaden pot, and with
50 Ibs. of dye to every six gallons of water kept at a
uniform and moderate temperature by a pipe brought
from a furnace some way off. This will cause it
gradually to deposit the portions of flesh which are
bound to have adhered to the veins, and after about
nine days the cauldron is strained and a fleece that
has been washed clean is dipped for a trial, and the
liquid is heated up until fair confidence is achieved.
A ruddy colour is inferior to a blackish one. The
fleece is allowed to soak for five hours and after it has

253

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

carminata, donee omnem ebibat saniem. bucinum
per se damnatur, quoniam fucum remittit : pelagic
ad modum alligatur, nimiaeque eius nigritiae dat
austeritatem illam nitoremque qui quaeritur cocci ;
ita permixtis viribus alterum altero 1 excitatur aut

135 astringitur. summa medicaminuin in M 2 libras
vellerum bucini ducenae et e pelagio cxi; ita fit
amethysti colos eximius ille. at Tyrius pelagio
primum satiatur inmatura viridique cortina, mox
permutatur in bucino. laus ei summa in color e 3
sanguinis concreti, nigricans aspectu idemque
suspectu refulgens; unde et Homero purpureus
dicitur sanguis.

136 LXIII. Purpurae usum Romae semper fuisse video,
sed Romulo in trabea : nam toga praetexta et latiore
clavo Tullum Hostilium e regibus primum usum

137 Etruscis devictis satis const at. Nepos Cornelius, qui
divi Augusti principatu obiit : ' Me/ inquit, c iuvene
violacea purpura vigebat, cuius libra denariis centum
venibat, nee multo post rubra Tarentina. huic
successit dibapha Tyria, quae in libras denariis
mille non poterat emi. hac P. Lentulus Spinther
aedilis curulis primus in praetexta usus improbabatur,
qua purpura quis non iam,' inquit, ' tricliniaria
facit ? ' Spinther aedilis fuit urbis conditae anno

1 <ab> altero ? Rackham. 2 M add. Mayhoff.

3 color est vel ut sit colore ? Mayhoff.

254

BOOK IX. LXII. 134-Lxm. 137

been carded is dipped again, until it soaks up all the
juice. The whelk by itself is not approved of, as
it does not make a fast dye; it is blended in a
moderate degree with sea-purple and it gives to its
excessively dark hue that hard and brilliant scarlet
which is in demand; when their forces are thus
mingled, the one is enlivened, or deadened as the
case may be, by the other. The total amount of
dye-stuffs required for 1,000 Ibs. of fleece is 200 Ibs.
of whelk and 111 Ibs. of sea-purple; so is produced
that remarkable amethyst colour. For Tyrian purple
the wool is first soaked with sea-purple for a prelim-
inary pale dressing, and then completely transformed
with whelk dye. Its highest glory consists in
the colour of congealed blood, blackish at first
glance but gleaming when held up to the light;
this is the origin of Homer's phrase, * blood of purple
hue.'

LXIII. I notice that the use of purple at Rome History
dates from the earliest times, but that Romulus used
it only for a cloak; as it is fairly certain that the
first of the kings to use the bordered robe and broader
purple stripe was Tullus HostiliuSj after the conquest
of the Etruscans. Cornelius Nepos, who died in the
principate of the late lamented Augustus, says : * In
my young days the violet purple dye was the
vogue, a pound of which sold at 100 denarii ; and
not much later the red purple of Taranto. This was
followed by the double-dyed Tyrian purple, which
it was impossible to buy for 1000 denarii per pound.
This was first used in a bordered robe by Publius
Lentulus Spinther, curule aedile, but met with dis-
approval, though who does not use this purple for
covering dining-couches now-a-days ? ' Spinther was

255

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

DCXCI Cicerone cos. dibapha tune dicebatur quae
bis tincta esset, veluti magnifico impendio, qualiter
nunc omnes paene commodiores purpurae tinguuntur.

138 LXIV. In conchyliata veste cetera eadem sine
bucino, praeterque ius temperatur aqua et pro
indiviso humani potus excremento; dimidia et
medicamina adduntur. sic gigrdtur laudatus ille
pallor saturitate fraudata tantoque dilutior l quanto
magis veil era esuriunt.

Pretia medicamento sunt quidem pro fertilitate
litoruna viliora, non tamen usquam pelagii centenas
Libras quinquagenos nummos excedere et bucini

139 centenos sciant qui ista mercantur inmenso. LXV.
set alia e fine initia, iuvatque ludere impendio et
lusus geminare miscendo iterumque et ipsa adult-
erare adulteria naturae, sicut testudines tinguere,
argentum auro confundere ut electra fiant, addere
his aera ut Corinthia. non est satis abstulisse gem-
mae nomen amethystum; rursum absolutus 2 ine-
briatur Tyrio, ut sit ex utroque nomen improbum
simulque luxuria duplex; et cum confecere con-

140 chylia, transire melius in Tyrium putant. paeniten-
tia hoc primum debet invenisse artifice mutante quod
damnabat ; inde ratio nata, votumque 3 factum e
vitio portentosis ingeniis et gemina demonstrata via

1 dilucidior ? edd.

2 Edd. : absolutum (abhitus ? JRacJcham).

3 -quo? Mayhoffi quisq^ue.

a The Greek name amethystos was also used of a herb sup-
posed to ward off intoxication.

b Tyriamethystus.
256

BOOK IX. LXIII. i37-Lxv. 140

aedile in the consulship of Cicero, 63 B.C. Stuff
dipped twice over used at that time to be termed

* double-dyed,' and was regarded as a lavish
extravagance, but now almost all the more
agreeable purple stuffs are dyed in this way.

LXIV. In a purple-dyed dress the rest of the
process is the same except that trumpet-shell dye is
not used, and in addition the juice is diluted with
water and with human urine in equal quantities;
and only half the amount of dye is used. This
produces that much admired paleness, avoiding deep
colouration, and the more diluted the more the
fleeces are stinted.

The prices for dyestuff vary in cheapness with the
productivity of the coasts, but those who buy them
at an enormous price should know that deep-sea
purple nowhere exceeds 50 sesterces and trumpet-
shell 100 sesterces per 100 Ibs. LXV. But every Elaborate
end leads to fresh starts, and men make a sport SJJJf**^
of spending, and like doubling their sports by com-
bining them and re-adulterating nature's adultera-
tions, for instance staining tortoiseshells, alloying gold
with silver to produce amber-metal ware, and adding
copper to these to make Corinthian ware. It is not
enough to have stolen for a dye the name of a gem,

* sober-stone/ a but when finished it is made drunk
again with Tyrian dye, so as to produce from the com-
bination an outlandish name b and a twofold luxury at
one time ; and when they have made shell-dye, they
think it an improvement for it to pass into Tyrian.
Repentance must have discovered this first, the
artificer altering a product that he disapproved of;
but reason sprang up next, and a defect was turned
into a success by marvellous inventions, and a double

257
VOL. ni. s

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

luxuriae, ut color alius operiretur alio, suavior it a
fieri leniorque dictus ; quin et terrena miscere cocco-
que tinctum Tyrio tinguere ut fieret hysginum.

141 coccum Galatiae rubens granum, ut dicemus in ter-
restribus aut circa Emeritam Lusitaniae in maxima
laude est. verum, ut simul peragantur nobilia
pigmenta, anniculo grano languidus sucus, idem
a quadrimo evanidus : ita nee recenti vires neque
senescenti.

Abunde tractata est ratio qua se virorum iuxta
feminarumque forma credit amplissimam fieri.

142 LXVL Concharum generis et pina est. nascitur
in limosis, subrecta semper nee umquam sine comite
quem pinoteren vocant, alii pinophylacem ; id est
squilla parva, aliubi cancer, dapis adsectator. pandit
se pina luminibus orbum corpus intus minutis piscibus
praebens; adsultant illi protinus et, ubi licentia
audacia crevit, implent earn, hoc tempus speculatus
index morsu levi significat. ilia conpressu 1 quicquid
inclusit exanimat partemque socio tribuit,

143 LXVII, Quo magis miror quodam existimasse
aquatilibus nullum inesse sensum. novit torpedo
vim suam ipsa non torpens, mersaque in limo se

1 CJiiffl. : compresso.

« The COCCVA is really a scale-insect which lives on the oak j it
resembles a scale pressed against the stem. Pliny and most of
the ancients confused it with seed.

258

BOOK IX. LXV. 140-Lxvn. 143

path pointed out for luxury, so that one colour might
be concealed by another, being pronounced to be
made sweeter and softer by this process ; and also a
method to blend minerals, and dye with Tyrian a
fabric already dyed with scarlet, to produce hysgine
colour. The kermes,a a red kernel of Galatia,
as we shall say when dealing with the products of the
earth, or else in the neighbourhood of Merida in
Lusitania, is most approved. But, to finish off these
famous dyes at once, the kernel when a year old has
a viscous juice, and also after it is four years old the
juice tends to disappear, so that it lacks strength
both when fresh and when getting old.

We have amply dealt with the method whereby
the beauty of men and women alike believes that it is
rendered most abundant.

LXVI. The genus shell-fish also includes the fan- M***"*

i T & T -i i - and its

mussel. It occurs in marshy places, always m an attendant the
upright position, and never without a companion sqmlL
which is called the pea-crab, or by others the sea-
pen-protector : this is a small shrimp, elsewhere called
a crab, its attendant at the feast. The sea-pen
opens, presenting the dark inside of its body to the
tiny fishes; these at once dart forward, and when
their courage has grown by license, they fill up the
sea-pen. Her marker having watched for this
moment gives her a signal with a gentle nip. She
by shutting up kills whatever she has enclosed, and
bestows a share on her partner.

LXVII. This makes me all the more surprised that ^ft****
some people have held the view that aquatic animals state, sling-
possess no senses. The torpedo knows her power, '

and does not herself possess the torpor she inflicts ;
she hides by plunging into the mud, and snaps up

259

s2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

occult at piscimn qui securi sup ernat antes obtorpuere
corrlpiens. hums iecori teneritas nulla praefertur.
nee minor sollertia ranae quae in mari piscatrix
vocatur: eminentia sub oculis cornicula turbato
limo exerit, adsultantibus pisciculis retrahens,1

144 donee tarn prope accedant ut adsiliat. simili modo
squatina et rhombus abditi pinnas exertas movent
specie vermiculorum, item quae vocantur raiae.
nam pastinaca latrocinatur ex occulto transeuntes
radio, quod telum est ei, %ens ; argument a sollertiae
huius, quod tardissimi piscium hi mugilem velocissi-
mum habentes in ventre reperiuntur.

145 Scolopendrae terrestribus similes quas centipedes
vocant hamo devorato omnia interanea evomunt
donee hamum egerant, deinde resorbent. at vulpes
marinae simili in periculo gluttiunt amplius usque ad
infirma lineae qua facile praerodant. cautius qui
glanis vocatur aversos mordet hamos nee devorat sed
esca spoliat.

Grassatur aries ut latro, et nunc grandiorum
navium in salo stantium occultatus umbra si quern
nandi voluptas invitet expectat, nunc elato extra
aquam capite piscantium cumbas speculatur occul-
tusque adnatans mergit.

146 LXVIII. Equidem et iis inesse sensum arbitror
quae neque animalium neque fruticum sed tertiam

1 retrahens aut praetrahens edd. : pertralieiis.

a Obviously a worm, such as Eunice or Nereis.
6 Probably dog-fish.
c Probably a dolphin.

260

BOOK IX. LXVII. 143-LXVin. 146

any fish that have received a shock while swim-
ming carelessly above her. No tender morsel is
preferred to the liver of this fish. The sea-frog
called the angler-fish is equally cunning : it stirs up
the mud and puts out the little horns that project
under its eyes, drawing them back when little fishes
frisk towards them till they come near enough for it
to spring upon them. In a similar manner the skate
and the turbot while in hiding put out their fins and
wave them about to look like worms, and so also do
the fish called rays. For the sting-ray acts as a
freebooter, from its hiding place transfixing fish
passing by with its sting, which is its weapon ; there
are proofs of this cunning, because these fish, though
the slowest there are, are found with mullet, the
swiftest of all fish, in their belly.

The scokpendra* which resembles the land animal
called the centipede, when it has swallowed a hook
vomits up the whole of its inwards until it succeeds in
disgorging it, and then sucks them back again. Sea-
foxes 6 on the other hand in a similar emergency gulp
down more of the line till they reach its weak part
where they may easily gnaw it off. The fish called the
catfish more cautiously nibbles at hooks from behind
and strips them of the bait without swallowing them.

The sea-ram c goes around like a brigand, and now
hides in the shadow of the larger vessels riding at
anchor and waits in case somebody may be tempted
by the pleasure of a swim, now raises its head out of
the water and watches for fishermen's boats, and
secretly swimming up to them sinks them.

LXVIII. For my own part I hold the view that
even those creatures which have not got the nature
of either animals or plants, but some third nature

261

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quandam ex utroque naturam habent, urticis dico et
spongeis.

Urticae noctu vagantur locumque1 mutant,
carnosae frondis his natura, et came vescuntur. vis
pruritu mordax est eademque quae terrestris
urticae. contrahit ergo se quam maxime rigens ac
pracnatante pisciculo frondem suam spargit com-

147 plectensque devorat. alias marcenti similis et
iactari se passa fluctu algae vice, contactos piscium
attrituque petrae scalpentes pruritum invadit. eadem
noctu pectines et echinos perquirit.2 cum admoveri
sibi manum sentit, color em mutat et contrahitur.
tacta uredinem emittit,3 paulumque si fuit intervalli,
absconditur. ora ei in radice esse traduntur,
excrementa per summa tenui fistula reddi.

148 LXIX. Spongearum tria genera accepimus:
spissum ac praedurum et asperum tragos 4 vocatur,
minus5 spissum et molius manos, tenue densumque,
ex quo penicillij Achillium. nascuntur omnes in
petris, aluntur conchis, pisce, limo. intellectum
inesse his apparet, quia, ubi avulsorem 6 sensere,
contractae multo difBcilius abstrahuntur. hoc idem

149 fluctu pulsante faciunt. vivere esca manifesto con-
chae minutae in his repertae ostendunt. circa Toro-
nem vesci illis avulsas etiam aiunt et ex relictis

1 MayJioff ex Aristotele : noctnque.

2 Lacunam per . . . quaerit Mayhoff.

3 MayJioff? i mittit.

4 Mayhoff: tragos id.

5 minus add* Hermokms.
8 avolsurum ? Mayhoff.

262

BOOK IX. LXVIII. i46-Lxix. 149

derived from both, possess sense-perception — I mean
jelly-fish and sponges.

Jelly-fish roam about and change their place by
night. These have the nature of a fleshy leaf, and
they feed on flesh. The itch they cause has a biting
power, just like that of the land nettle. Consequently
this creature draws itself in as stiffly as possible and
when a little fish swims in front of it spreads out its
leaf and enfolding it devours it. In other cases it
looks as if it were withering up, and allows itself to
be tossed about by the waves like seaweed, and
attacks any fish that touch it as they try to scrape
away the itch by rubbing against a rock. The same
creature by night hunts for scallops and sea-urchins.
When it feels a hand approach it, it changes colour
and draws itself together. When touched it sends
out a turning sting, and if there is a moment's
interval hides. It is reported to have mouths in its
root and to evacuate its excretions by a narrow tube
through its topmost parts.

LXIX. We are informed that there are three The sponge
kinds of sponge : a thick and very hard and rough ^UX?
one is called goat-thorn sponge, a less thick and ***»•

f. T& i ,1 • p ^ habitat.

softer one loose-sponge, and a thin one ot close
texture, used for making paint-brushes, Achilles
sponge. They all grow on rocks, and feed on shells,
fish and mud. These creatures manifestly possess
intelligence, because when they are aware of a sponge-
gatherer they contract and make it much more
difficult to detach them. They do the same when
much beaten by the waves. The tiny shells found
inside them clearly show that they five by eating
food. It is said that in the neighbourhood of Torone
they can be fed on these shell-fish even after they

263

PLINY; NATURAL HISTORY

radicibus recrescere in petris; cruoris quoque in-
haeret colos, Africis praecipue quae generantur in
Syrtibus. maximae fiunt manoe sed mollissimae
circa Lyciam, in profundo autem nee ventoso mol-
liores; in Hellesponto asperae, et densae circa
Maleam. putrescunt in apricis locis, ideo optimae in
gurgitibus. viventibus idem qui madentibus nigri-

150 cans colos. adhaerent nee parte nee totae; in-
tersunt enim fistulae quaedam inanes quaternae fere
aut quinae, per quas pasci existimantur. sunt et
aliae, sed superne concretae ; et subesse membrana
quaedam radicibus earum intellegitur. vivere
constat longo tempore. pessimum omnium genus
est earum quae aplysiae vocantur, quia eiui non
possunt, in quibus magnae sunt fistulae et reliqua
densitas spissa.

151 LXX. Camcularum maxime multitudo circa eas
urinantes gravi periculo infestat. ipsi ferunt et
nubem quandam crassescere super capita (animal
id x planorum piscium simile 2) prementem eos
arcentemque a reciprocando, et ob id stilos praea-
cutos lineis adnexos habere sese, quia nisi perfossae
ita non recedant — caliginis et pavoris, ut arbitror,
opere: nubem enim et nebulam, cuius nomine id

1 DeUefsen : animali. 2 Rackham : similem.

a la the Gulf of Sidra and the Gulf of Cabes.
6 Literally * unwashable.*
c Probably the large ray.

264

BOOK IX. LXIX. i49~Lxx. 151

have been pulled off the rocks, and that fresh sponges
grow again on the rocks from the roots left there ;
also the colour of blood remains on them, especially
on the African ones that grow on the Sandbanks.a
Very large but very soft thin sponges grow round
Lycia, though those in deep aqd calm water are
softer ; the rough kind grows ir\ the Dardanelles,
and the close-textured round Cape Malea. Sponges
decay in sunny places, and consequently the best
are found in deep pools. Live sponges have the same
blackish colour as sponges in use have when wet.
They do not cling to the rock with a particular part
nor with their entire surface, for they have certain
empty tubes, about four or five in number, running
through them, through which it is believed that they
take their food. They also have other tubes, but
these are closed at the upper end ; and it is under-
stood that there is a sort of thin skin on the under
side of their roots. It is established that they live
a long time. The worst of all the species of sponge
is one called in Greek the dirty5 sponge, because it
cannot be cleaned; it contains large tubes, and
the rest of it is of a very close texture

LXX. The number of dog-fish specially swarming Diving for
round sponges beset the men that dive for them with s^^^th
grave danger. These persons also report that a sort dog-fish.
of * cloud c thickens above their heads — this a live
creature resembling flat-fish — pressing them down
and preventing them from getting back, and that
because of this they have very sharp spikes attached
to cords, because the * clouds ' will not withdraw
unless stabbed through in this way— this story being
the result, as I believe, of darkness and fear; for
nobody has ever heard of any such creature in the

265

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

malum appellant, inter animalia haut ullam comperit

152 quisquam. cum caniculis atrox dimicatio ; inguina
et calces omnemque candorem corporum appetunt.
salus Tina in adversas eundi ultroque terrendi ; pavet
enim hominem aeque ac terret, et ita sors * aequa
in gurgite. lit ad summa aquae ventum est, ibi peri-
culum anceps, adempta ratione contra eundi dum
conetur emergere ; et salus omnis in sociis. funem
illi religatum ab umeris eius trahunt; hunc
dimicans, ut sit periculi signum, laeva quatit, dextera

153 adprehenso stilo in pugna est. modicus alias trac-
tatus : ut prope carinam ventum est, nisi praeceleri
vi repente eripiunt,2 absumi spectant. ac saepe iam
subducti e manibus auferuntur, si non trahentium
opem conglobato corpore in pilae modum ipsi
adiuvere. protendunt quidem tridentis alii; sed
monstro sollertia est navigium sub eundi atque ita e
tuto proeliandi. omnis ergo cura ad speculandum
hoc malum insumitur ; certissima est securitas vidisse
pianos pisces, quia numquam sunt ubi maleficae
bestiae, qua de causa urinantes sacros appellant eos.

154 LXXI. Silicea testa inclusis fatendum est nullum
esse sensum, ut ostreis. multis eadem natura quae

1 Mayhoff : et in frons. 2 Radcharn, : rapuit.

266

BOOK IX. LXX. 151-Lxxi. 154

list of animals as the * cloud ' or * fog,' which is the
name the divers give to this plague. Divers have
fierce fights with the dog-fish ; these attack their loins
and heels and all the white parts of the body. The
one safety lies in going for them and frightening
them by taking the offensive: for a dog-fish is as
much afraid of a man as a man is of it, and so they
are on equal terms in deep water. When they come
to the surface, then the man is in critical danger, as
the policy of taking the offensive is not available
while he is trying to get out of the water, and his
only safety is in his comrades. These haul on the
rope tied to his shoulders ; this, as he carries on the
duel, he shakes with his left hand to give a signal
of danger, while his right hand grasps his dagger
and is occupied in fighting. Most of the time they
haul gently, but when he gets near the boat, unless
with a quick heave they suddenly snatch him out
of the water, they have to look on while he is made
away with. And often when divers have already
begun to be hauled up they are snatched out of
their comrades' hands, unless they have themselves
supplemented the aid of those hauling by curling up
into a ball. Others of the crew of course thrust
out harpoons, but the vast beast is crafty enough to
go under the vessel and so carry on the battle in
safety. Consequently divers devote their whole atten-
tion to keeping a watch against this disaster ; the most
reliable token of safety is to have seen some flat-fish,
which are never found where these noxious creatures
are — on account of which divers call them the holy fish.

LXXI. It must be agreed that creatures enclosed ^^
in a flinty shell, such as oysters, have no senses,
Many have the same nature as a bush, for instance

267

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

frutici, ut holothuriis, pulmonibus, stellis. adeoque
nihil non gignitur in mari ut cauponarum etiam
aestiva animalia, pernici molesta saltu aut quae
capillus maxime celat, exsistant ibi l et circumglobata
escae saepe extrahantur; quae causa somnum pis-
cium in mari noctibus infestare existimatur. quibus-
dam vero ipsis innascuntur, quo in numero chalcis
accipitur.

155 LXXII. Nee venena cessant dira, ut in lepore qui in
Indico mari etiam tactu pestilens vomitum dissolu-
tionemque stomach! protinus creat, in nostro offa
informis color e tantum lepori similis, in Indis et
magnitudine et pilo, duriore tantum; nee vivus ibi
capitur. aeque pestiferum animal araneus spinae in
dorso aculeo noxius. sed nullum usquam execrabilius
quam radius super caudam eminens trygonis quam
nostri pastinacam appellant, quincunciali magni-
tudine ; arbores infixus radici necat, arma ut telum
perforat vi ferri et veneni malo.

156 LXXIII. Morbos universa genera piscium,ut cetera
animalia etiam fera, non accipimus sentire ; verum
aegrotare singulos manifestum facit aliquorum
macies cum in eodem genere praepingues alii capian-
tur.

157 LXXIV. Quonam modo generent, desiderium et

1 ibi add. Raclcham.

0 This chapter contains a remarkable mixture of truth and
falsehood.

268

BOOK IX. LXXI. 154-Lxxiv. 157

the sea-cucumber, the sea-lung, the starfish. And to The sea-fea.
such an extent is it the case that everything grows
in the sea, that even the creatures found in inns in
summer-time, — those that plague us with a quick
jump or those that hide chiefly in the hair, — occur
there, and are often drawn out of the water clustering
round the bait; and their irritation is thought to
disturb the sleep of fish in the sea at night. Indeed
on some kinds of fish these vermin actually breed
as parasites; the herring is believed to be one of
these.

LXXII. Nor are there wanting dire poisons, as in Poisonous
the sea-hare which in the Indian Ocean infects even fls7ies-
by its touch, immediately causing vomiting and
laxity of the stomach, and in our own seas the
shapeless lump resembling a hare in colour only,
whereas the Indian variety is also like a hare in size
and in fur, only its fur is harder; and there it is
never taken alive. An equally pestiferous creature
is the weaver, which wounds with the sharp point
of its dorsal fin. But there is nothing in the world
more execrable than the sting projecting above the
tail of the sting-ray which our people call the
parsnip-fish; it is five inches long, and kills trees
when driven into the root, and penetrates armour like
a missile, with the force of steel and with deadly
poison.

LXXIIL We are not told that the various kinds of w™** °f
fish suffer frorh endemic diseases, as do all other even
wild animals ; but that individuals among them are
liable to illness is proved by the emaciated condition
of some fish contrasted with the extreme fatness of
others of the same kind when caught. ^^

LXXIV.a The curiosity and wonder of mankind does sexual

reproduction.
269

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

admiratio hominum differri non patitur. pisces
attritu ventrium coeunt tanta celeritate ut visum
fallant, delphini et reliqua cete simili modo et paulo
diutius. femina piscis coitus tempore marem sequi-
tur ventrem eius rostro pulsans, sub partum l mares
feminas similiter ova vescentes earum. nee satis est
generation! per se coitus, nisi editis ovis interversando
mares vitale adsperserint virus, non omnibus id
contingit ovis in tanta multitudine ; alioqui repleren-
tur maria et stagna, cum singuli uteri innumerabilia
concipiant.

158 Piscium ova in mari crescunt, quaedam summa cele-
ritate, ut murenarum, quaedam paulo tardius.
plani piscium quibus cauda non est 2 aculeatique et
testudines in coitu superveniunt, polypi crine uno
feminae naribus adnexo, saepiae et lolligines linguis,
componentes inter se bracchia et in contrarium
nantes ; ore et pariunt. sed polypi in terram verso
capite coeunt, reliqua mollium tergis ut canes, item

159 locustae et squillae, cancri ore. ranae superveniunt,
prioribus pedibus alas feminae mare adprehendente,
posterioribus clunes. pariunt minimas carnes nigras,
quas gyrinos vocant, oculis tantum et cauda insignes ;
mox pedes figurantur cauda findente se in posteriores.

1 Gden : parfra.

2 Lacwnam hie MayJioff.

270

BOOK IX. LXXIV. 157-159

not allow us to postpone the consideration of these
animals* method of reproduction. Fish couple by
rubbing their bellies together so quickly as to escape
the sight ; dolphins and the rest of the large marine
species couple in a similar manner, but with rather
longer contact. At the coupling season the female
fish pursues the male, nudging his belly with her nose,
but directly after the eggs are born the males similarly
pursue the females and eat their eggs. Copulation
is not enough in itself to cause the birth of offspring,
unless when the eggs are laid the males swim to and
fro sprinkling them with life-giving milt. This is
not achieved with all the eggs in so great a multitude
— otherwise, the seas and marshes would be com-
pletely filled, since the uterus of a single fish holds
a countless number of eggs.

Fishes' eggs in the sea grow in size, some with
extreme rapidity, for instance those of the murena,
some a little more slowly. Flat fish not possessing
a tail, and sting-ray and tortoises, cover the
female in mating, polyps couple by attaching a single
feeler to the female's nostrils, the two varieties of
cuttle-fish with their tongues, linking their arms
together and swimming in opposite directions ; they
also spawn through the mouth. But polyps couple
with their head turned towards the ground, all the
other soft fishes with their backs — for instance sea-
dogs, and also langoustes and prawns ; crabs with their
mouth. Frogs cover the female, the male grasping
her shoulder-blades with his fore-feet and her but-
tocks with his hind feet. They spawn very small
lumps of dark flesh that are called tadpoles, possessing
only eyes and a tail ; but soon feet are formed by
the tail dividing into two hind legs. And strange

271

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

minimque, semestri vita resolvuntur in limum nullo
cernente, et rursus vernis aquis renascuntur quae
fuere, naturae perinde occulta ratione, cum omnibus

160 annis id eveniat. et mituli et pectines sponte
naturae in harenosis proveniunt ; quae durioris testae
sunt, ut murices, purpurae, salivario lentore, sicut
acescente umore culices ; apua spuma maris incales-
cente cum admissus est imber; quae vero siliceo
tegmine operiuntur, ut ostrea, putrescente limo aut
spuma circa navigia diutius stantia defixosque palos
et lignum maxime. nuper compertum in ostreariis
umorem his fetificum lactis modo effluere/ anguillae
atterunt se scopulis, ea strigmenta vivescunt, nee alia

161 est earum procreatio. piscium diversa genera
non coeunt praeter squatinam et raiam, ex quibus
nascitur priore parte raiae similis, et nomen ex utro-
que compositum apud Graecos trahit.

162 Quaedam tempore anni gignuntur et in umore ut
in terra : vere pectines, limaces, hirudines ; eadem
tempore evanescunt. piscium lupus et trichias bis
anno parit, et saxatiles omnes ; nonnulli x ter, ut 2
chalcis, cyprini sexiens, scorpaenae bis ac sargi, vere
et autumno, ex planis squatina bis sola, autumno,
occasu vergiliarum ; plurimi piscium tribus mensibus
Aprilij Maio, lunio ; salpae autumno ; sargi, torpedo,

1 Detlefsen : non mulli aut mulli.

2 ut Mayhoff : et.

a Rhinobotos, from pCvij and paras.
272

BOOK IX. LXXIV. 159-162

to say, after six months of life they melt invisibly
back into mud, and again in the waters of spring-
time are reborn what they were before, equally
owing to some hidden principle of nature, as it occurs
every year. Also mussels and scallops are produced wan-sexual
by spontaneous generation in sandy waters ; fish with reProdllctwn'
harder shells, like the two varieties of purple-fish,
are generated by a sticky juice like saliva, as gnats
are by moisture turning sour; the anchovy by sea-
foam growing warm when rain gets into it ; but fish
protected by a flinty covering, like oysters, are
generated by rotting mud, or by the foam round
ships that stay moored for some time, and especially
round stakes fixed in the ground, and timber. It
has recently been discovered in oyster-beds that a
fertilizing moisture flows out of these fish like milk.
Eels rub against rocks and the scrapings come to life ;
this is their only way of breeding. Different kinds
of fish do not mate together, except the skate and
the ray, the cross between which is like a ray in
front, and bears in Greece a name a derived from the
names of both parents.

Some creatures are born at a fixed season of the Breeding-
year, water species as well as those on land : scallops s
and slugs and leeches in the spring ; these also pass
away at a fixed season. Among fish the wolf-fish
and the sardine breed twice a year, and so do all the
rock-fish ; some breed three times, for instance the
herring; carp six times; sea-scorpions and sargi
twice, in spring and autumn : of the flat fish only the
skate twice, in the autumn and at the setting of the
Pleiads; most fish in the three months of April,
May and June; the stockfish in the autumn, the
sargus, the torpedo and the squalus at the season

273

VOL. m. T

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

squall circa aequinoctium, molles vere, saepia omni-
bus mensibus : ova eius glutino atramenti ad speciem
uvae cohaerentia masculus prosequitur adflatu, alias

163 sterilescunt. polypi hieme coeunt, pariunt vere ova
tortili vibrata pampino, tanta fecunditate ut multitu-
dinem ovorum occisi non recipiant cavo capitis quo
praegnantes tulere. ea excludunt L die, e quibus

164 multa propter numerum intercidunt. locustae et
reliqua tenuioris crustae ponunt ova subter ipsa l
atque ita incubant: polypus femina modo in ovis
sedet, modo cavernam cancellato bracchiorum
inplexu claudit. saepia in terreno parit inter
harundines aut sicubi enata alga, excludit quint o
decimo die. lolligines in alto conserta ova edunt ut
saepiae. purpurae, murices eiusdemque generis
vere pariunt. echini ova pleniluniis habent hieme,
et cocleae hiberno tempore nascuntur.

165 LXXV. Torpedo octogenos fetus habens invenitur,
eaque intra se parit ova praemollia, in alium locum
uteri transferens atque ibi excludens; simili modo
omnia quae cartilaginea appellavimus : ita fit ut sola
piscium et animal pariant et ova concipiant. silurus
mas solus omnium edita custodit ova, saepe et
quinquagenis diebus, ne absumantur ab aliis.
ceterae feminae in triduo excludunt si mas attigit.

1 Mayhoff ex Aristotde : super ova.

a See § 78.
274

BOOK IX. LXXIV. i62-LXxv. 165

of the equinox ; soft fish in the spring ; the cuttle-
fish in all the months — its eggs stick together with
an inky gum like a bunch of grapes, and the male
directs his breath upon them, otherwise they are
barren. Polyps mate in winter and lay eggs in
spring that cluster in a twisting coil ; and they are
so prolific that when they are killed the cavity of
their head will not hold the multitude of eggs that
they carried in it when pregnant. They lay them
after seven weeks} many of them perishing because
of their number. Langoustes and the rest of the
species with rather thin shells deposit their eggs
underneath them and so hatch them; the female
polyp now sits on the eggs and now forms a closed
cavern with her tentacles intertwined in a lattice.
The sepia lays on land among reeds or wherever
there is seaweed growing, and hatches after a fort-
night. The cuttle-fish produces its eggs in deep
water clustered together like those of the sepia.
The purple-fish, the murex and their kind spawn
in spring. Sea-urchins have eggs at the full moons
in winter, and snails are born in the winter time.

LXXV. The electric ray is found having broods ^^io
numbering eighty; also it produces exceedingly °/pectes of
small eggs inside it, shifting them to another part of &*•
the womb and emitting them there; and similarly
all the species that we have designated a cartilaginous :
thus it comes about that these are the only fish
kinds that are both viviparous and oviparous.
With the catfish alone of all species the male
guards the eggs, often for as long as 50 days at
a time, to prevent their being eaten by other fish.
The females of all the other species spawn in three
days if a male has touched them.

275

T2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

166 LXXVI. Acus sive belone unus piscium dehiscente
propter multitudinem utero parit ; a partu coalescit
vulnus, quod et in caecis serpentibus tradunt. mus
marinns in terra scrobe effosso parit ova et rursus
obruit terra, tricesimo die refossa aperit fetumque in
aquam ducit.

LXXVII. Erythini et channae volvas habere
traduntur, qui trochos appellatur a Graecis ipse se
inire. fetus omnium aquatilium inter initia visu
carent.

167 LXXVIII. Aevi piscium memorandum nuper
exemplum accepimus. Pausilypum villa est Cam-
paniae haut procul Neapoli ; in ea in Caesaris piscinis
a Polione Vedio coniectum piscem sexagensimum
post annum expirasse scribit Annaeus Seneca, duo-
bus aliis aequalibus eius ex eodem genere etiam tune
viventibus. quae mentio piscinarum admonet ut
paulo plura dicamus hac de re priusquam digrediamur
ab aquatilibus.

168 LXXIX. Ostrearum vivaria primus omnium
Sergius Grata invenit in Baiano aetate L, Crassi
oratoris, ante Marsicum bellum, nee gulae causa sed
avaritiae, magna vectigalia tali ex ingenio suo perci-
piens, ut qui primus pensiles invenerit balineas, ita
mangonicatas villas subinde vendendo. is primus
optimum saporem ostreis Lucrinis adiudicavit,
quando eadem aquatilium genera aliubi atque aliubi

169 meliora, sicut lupi pisces in Tiber! amne inter duos
pontes, rhombus Ravennae, murena in Sicilia, elops

a See § 56.
6 Unidentifiable.
e I.e. Sans Souci.
d 91-88 B.C.

* Perhaps the Snblician and the Palatine.
276

BOOK IX. LXXVI. i66-LXxix. 169

LXXVL The hornfish or garfish is the only fish
so prolific that its matrix is ruptured when it spawns ;
after spawning the wound grows together, which is
said to happen in the case of blindworms also. The
sea-mouse digs a trench in the ground to lay its eggs
in and covers it again with earth, and a month later
digs the earth up again and opens the trench and
leads its brood into the water.

LXXVII. The red mullet and the sea-perch « are
said to have wombs. The species called by the Greeks
hoop-fish & is said to practise self-impregnation. The
offspring of all aquatic animals are blind at birth.

LXXVIII. There has recently been sent to us a Longevity
remarkable case of longevity in fishes. In Campania &*'
not far from Naples, there is a country house named
Posilipo c ; Annaeus Seneca writes that in Caesar's
fishponds on this property a fish thrown in by Polio
Veotius had died after reaching the age of 60, while
two others of the same breed that were of the same
age were even then living. The mention of fishponds
reminds me to say a little more on this topic before
leaving the subject of aquatic animals.

LXXIX. Oyster ponds were first invented by <
Sergius Orata on the Gulf of Baiae, in the time of
the orator Lucius Crassus, before the Marsian war<*;
his motive was not greed but avarice, and he made a
great profit out of his practical ingenuity, as he was
the first inventor of showerbaths — he used to fit out
country houses in this way and then sell them. He
was the first to adjudge the best flavour to Lucrine
oysters—because the same kinds of fish are of better
quality in different places, for example wolf-fish in the
Tiber between the two bridges «, turbot at Ravenna,
lamprey in Sicily, sturgeon at Rhodes, and other kinds

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Rhodi, et alia genera similiter, ne culinarum censura
peragatur. nondum Britannica serviebant litora
cum Grata Lucrina nobilitabat ; postea visum tanti
in extremam Italiam petere Brundisium ostreas, ac ne
lis esset inter duos sapor es, nuper excogitatum
famem longae advectionis a Brundisio conpascere in
Lucrino.

170 LXXX. Eadem aetate prior Licinius Murena
reliquorum piscium vivaria invenit, cuius deinde
exemplum nobilitas secuta est Philippi, Hortensi.
Lucullus exciso etiam monte iuxta Neapolim maiore
impendio quam villam exaedificaverat euripum et
maria admisit, qua de causa Magnus Pompeius
Xerxen togatum eum appellabat. ]XL[ HS e
piscina ea 1 defuncto illo veniere pisces.

171 LXXXL Murenarum vivarium privatim excogi-
tavit ante alios C. Hirrius, qui cenis triumphalibus
Caesaris dictatoris sex milia numero murenarum
mutua appendit; nam permutare quidem pretio
noluit aHave merce. huius villam infra2 quam

172 modicam [XL| piscinae vendiderunt. invasit dein
singulorum piscium amor, apud Baulos in parte
Baiana piscinam habuit Hortensius orator in qua
murenam adeo dilexit ut exanimatam flesse creda-
tur. in eadem villa Antonia Drusi murenae quam
diligebat inaures addidita cuius propter famam non-
nulli Baulos videre concupiverunt,

1 Mayhqff : XL Mi se pisimae a aut alia.

2 Mayhoffi intra.

0 Xerxes made a channel for his fleet through Mount
Athos.

b 46and45B.o.

e The colloquial use of video, 'go to see,' survives in
Italian, e.g. ' Vede Napoli e poi mori.'

278

BOOK IX. LXXIX. i69^Lxxxr. 172

likewise — not to carry out this census of the larder
to its conclusion. The coasts of Britain were not yet
in service when Orata used to advertise the fame of
the products of the Lago Lucrino ; but subsequently
it was deemed worth while to send to the end of
Italy, to Brindisi, for oysters, and to prevent a
quarrel between the two delicacies the plan has
lately been devised of feeding away in the Lago
Lucrino the hunger caused by the long porterage
from Brindisi.

LXXX. In the same period the elder Licmius Fishponds.
Murena invented fishponds for all the other sorts of
fish, and his example was subsequently followed by
the celebrated record of Philip and Hortensius.
Lucullus had built a channel that cost more than a
country house, by actually cutting through a moun-
tain near Naples and letting in the sea ; this was why
Pompey the Great used to call him ' Xerxes a in
Eoman dress.' After his decease the fish from this
pond sold for 4,000,000 sesterces, v

LXXXI. The first person to devise a separate
pond for lampreys was Gains Hirrius, who added to
the triumphal banquets 6 of Caesar lampreys to the
number of 6000 — as a loan, because he would not
exchange them for money or for any other commodity.
His less than moderate country estate was sold by
its fishponds for 4,000,000 sesterces. Subsequently
affection for individual fishes came into .fashion. At
Baculo in the Baiae district the pleader Hortensius
had a fishpond containing a lamprey which he feH
so deeply in love with that he is believed to have
wept when it expired. At the same country house
Drusus's wife Antonia adorned her favourite lamprey
with earrings, and its reputation made some people
extremely eager to visit Baculo.c

279

PLINY: NATURAL HISTOEY

173 LXXXIL Coclearum vivaria instituit Fulvius
Lippinus In Tarquiniensi paulo ante civile bellum
quod cum Pompeio Magno gestum est, distinctis
quidem generibus earum, separatim ut essent albae
quae in Reatino agro nascuntur, separatim Illyricae
quibus magnitude praecipua, Africanae quibus

174 fecunditas, Solitanae quibus nobilitas. quin et
saginam earum commentus est sapa et farre aliisque
generibus, ut cocleae quoque altiles ganeam im-
plerent : cuius artis gloriam in earn magnitudinem
perductam esse ut 1 LXXX quadrantes caperent
singularum calyces auctor est M. Varro.

175 LXXXIII, Piscium genera etiamnum a Theo-
phrasto mira produntur, circa Babylonis rigua dece-
dentibus fluviis in cavernis aquas habentibus
remanere quosdam, inde exire ad pabula pinnulis
gradient es crebro caudae motu, contraque venantes
refugere in suas cavernas et in his obverses stare,
capita eorum esse ranae marinae similia, reliquas
partes gobionum, branchias ut ceteris piscibus.

176 circa Heracleam et Cromnam et multifariam in Ponto
unum genus esse quod extremas fluminum aquas
sectetur cavernasque sibi faciat in terra atque in his
vivat, etiam reciprocis amnibus siccato litore, effodi
ergo motu demum corporum vivere eos adprobante.

177 circa eandem Heracleam [eodemque] 2 Lyco amne

1 Rackham : perducta ait. 2 seclusit MayTioff.

0 Begun in 49 B,C. * The genus periophtfidlmus.

280

BOOK IX. LXXXII. 173-Lxxxm. 177

LXXXII. Ponds for keeping snails were first made
by Fulvius Lippinus in the Trachina district a little
before the civil war a fought with Pompey the Great ;
indeed he kept the different kinds of snails separate,
with different compartments for the white snails
that grow in the Eieti territory and for the Illyrian
variety distinguished for size, the African for
fecundity and the Solitane for breed. Moreover he
devised a method of fattening them with new wine
boiled down and spelt and other kinds of fodder,
so that gastronomy was enriched even by fattened
oysters ; and according to Marcus Varro this osten-
tatious science was carried to such lengths that
a single snail-shell was large enough to hold 80
quarts.

LXXXIII. Moreover some wonderful kinds of fish Rema.T'kabie
are reported by Theophrastus. He says that (
where the rivers debouch around the water-meadows
of Babylon a certain fish& stays in caverns that contain
springs and goes out from them to feed, walking with
its fins by means of a repeated movement of the tail,
and guards against being caught by taking refuge in
its caves and remaining in them facing towards the
opening, and that these fishes' heads resemble a sea-
frog's and the rest of its parts a goby's, though the
gills are the same as in other fish. (2) In the neigh-
bourhood of Heraclea and Cromna and in many
parts of the Black Sea there is one kind that fre-
quents the water at the edge of rivers and makes
itself caverns in the ground and lives in these, and
also in the shore of tidal rivers when left dry by the
tide ; and consequently they are only dug up when
the movement of their bodies shows that they are
alive. (5) In the same neighbourhood of Heraclea

281

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

decedente ovis relictis in limo generari pisces qui ad
pabula petenda palpitent exiguis branchiis, quo fieri
non indigos unions, propter quod et anguillas diutius
vivere exemptas aquis, ova autem in sicco maturari
ut testudinum. eadem in Ponti regione adprehendi
glacie piscium maxime gobiones non nisi patinarum

178 calore vitalem motum fatentis. est in his quidem,
tametsi mirabilibus,1 tamen aliqua ratio, idem
tradit in Paphlagonia effodi pisces gratissimos cibis
terrenos altis scrobibus in iis locis in quibus nullae
restagnent aquae ; miratusque 2 ipse gigni sine
coitu umoris quidem vim aliquam inesse quam puteis
arbitratur — ceu vero in ullis 3 reperiantur pisces !
quicquid est hoc, certe minus admirabilem talparum
facit vitam, subterranei animalis, nisi forte vermium
terrenorum et his piscibus natura inest.

179 LXXXIV. Verum omnibus his fidem Nili inundatio
adfert omnia excedente miraculo : quippe detegente
eo musculi reperiuntur inchoato opere genitalis aquae
terraeque, iam parte corporis viventes novissima
effigie etiamnum terrena.

180 LXXXV. Nee de anthia pisce silere convenit ea
quae plerosque adverto credidisse. Chelidonias

1 Rackham : mirabilis. a v.l. miraturque,

3 Jan : vero nullis.

282

BOOK IX, LXXXIII. i77~LXxxv. 180

at the outflow of the river Lycus fishes are born from
eggs left in the mud that seek their fodder by
flapping with their little gills, and this makes them not
need moisture, which is the reason why eels also live
comparatively long when taken out of the water}
while eggs mature in a dry place, for instance
tortoise's eggs. (4) In the same region of the Black
Sea the fish most frequently caught in the ice is the
goby, which is only made to reveal the movement
of life by the heat of the saucepan. These accounts
indeed, however marvellous, do nevertheless embody
a certain principle. The same authority reports that
in Paphlagonia earth-fish extremely acceptable for
food are dug out of deep trenches in places where
there is no overflow from streams ; and after himself
expressing surprise at their being propagated with-
out coupling, he gives the view that at all events
they have a supply of moisture in them similar to
that in wells — but as if fish were found in any wells 1
Whatever the fact is as to this, it certainly makes
the life of moles, an underground animal, less re-
markable, unless perhaps these fishes also possess
the nature of earth-worms.

LXXXIV. But credibility is given to all these siiewater-
statements by the flooding of the Nile, with a marvel mce'
that surpasses them all : this is that, when the river
withdraws its covering, water-mice are found with the
work of generative water and earth uncompleted —
they are already alive in a part of their body, but
the most recently formed part of their structure is
still of earth.

LXXXV. Nor is it proper to omit the stories about
the antUas fish that I notice to have won general
acceptance. We have mentioned the Swallow

283-

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

insulas diximus Asiae scopulosi maris ante promun-
turium Tauri1 sitas; ibi frequens hie piscis et
celeriter capitur uno genere. parvo navigio et con-
colori veste eademque hora per aliquot dies con-
tinues piscator enavigat certo spatio escamque
proicit ; quicquid vero 2 mutetur suspecta fraus
praedae est, cavetque quod timuit. cum id saepe
factum est, unus aliquando consuetudine invitatus

181 anthias escam appetit. notatur Me intentione
diligenti ut auctor spei conciliatorque capturae;
neque est difficile, cum per aliquot dies solus accedere
audeat. tandem et alios 3 invenit, paulatimque
comitatior postremo greges adducit innumeros, iam
vetustissimis quibusque adsuetis piscatorem agnos-
cere et e manu cibum rapere. turn ille paulum
ultra digitos in esca iaculatiis hamum singulos
involat verius quam capit, ab umbra navis brevi
conatu rapiens 4 it a ne ceteri sentiant, alio intus
excipiente centonibus raptum ne palpitatio ulla aut

182 sonus ceteros abigat. conciliatorem nosse ad hoc
prodest, ne capiatur, fugituro in reliquum grege.
ferunt discordem socium duci insidiatum pulchre noto
cepisse malefica voluntate ; agnitum in macello a socio
cuius injuria erat et damni formulam editam con-

1 Tauri add. post ante Hermolaus, hie MayJioff.

2 Mayhoff : quicquid ex eo.

3 alios ? Mayhoff : aliquos.

4 Gelen: conatur absens.

a Now Allah. Dagh, in south-east Asia Minor.
284

BOOK IX. LXXXV. 180-182

Islands, situated off a promontory of Mt. Taurus a
in the rocky sea of Asia ; this fish is frequent there,
and is quickly caught, in one variety. A fisherman
sails out a certain distance in a small "boat, wearing
clothes that match the boat in colour., and at the
same time for several days running, and throws out
bait; but if any alteration whatever be made, the
prey suspects a trick and avoids the thing that has
frightened it. When this has been done a number
of times* at last one anthias is tempted by familiarity
to try to get the bait. This one is marked down
with careful attention as a foundation for hope and
as a decoy for a catch; and it is not difficult to
mark it, as for several days only this one ventures
to come close. At last it finds others as well, and
gradually enlarging its company finally brings shoals
too big to count, as by this time all the oldest fish
have got used to recognizing the fisherman and
snatching the bait out of his hand. Then he throws
a hook fixed in the bait a little beyond his fingers,
and catches or rather rushes them one by one,
snatching them, with a short jerk away from the
shadow of the boat so that the others may not
notice it, while another man in the boat receives
the catch in some rags so that no flapping or noise
may drive away the others. It pays to know the
decoy fish for this purpose, so that he may not
be caught, as thenceforward the shoal will swim
away. There is a story that a disaffected partner in
a fishery lay in wait for the leader fish, which was
very well known, and caught it, with malicious
intent ; Mucianus adds that it was recognized in the
market by the partner who was being victimized,
and that proceedings for damage were instituted and

285

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

demnatumque addit Mucianus aestimata lite, idem
anthi&e, cum unum hamo teneri viderint, spinis quas
in dorso serratas habent lineam secare traduntur eo
qui teneatur extendente ut praecidi possit. at inter
sargos ipse qui tenetur ad scopulos lineam terit.

183 LXXXVI. Praeter haec claros sapientia auctores
video mirari stellam in mari: ea figura est, parva
admodum caro intus, extra duriore callo. huic tam
igneum fervorem esse tradunt ut omnia in mari
contacta adurat, omnem cibum statim peragat.
quibus sit hoc cognitum experimentis baud facile
dixerim, multoque memorabilius duxerim * id cuius
experiendi cotidie occasio est.

184 LXXXVII. Concharum e genere sunt dactyli, ab
humanorum unguium similitudine appellati. his
natura in tenebris remoto lumine alio fulgere claro,2
et quanto magis umorem habeant lucere in ore
mandentium, lucere in manibus atque etiam in solo
ac veste decidentibus guttis, ut procul dubio pateat
suci illam naturam esse quam miraremur etiam in
corpore.

185 LXXXVIIL Sunt et inimicitiarum atque
concordiae miracula. mugil et lupus mutuo odio
flagrant, conger et murena, caudam inter se praero-

1 Gden : dicerim. 2 v.L clare.

« I.e. the star-fish.
286

BOOK IX. LXXXV. i82-LXxxviii. 185

a verdict given for the prosecution with damages as
assessed. Moreover it is said that when these fishes
see one of their number hooked they cut the line
with the saw-like prickles that they have on their
back, while the one held by the line draws it taut so
as to enable it to be severed. With the sargus kind
however the captive itself rubs the line against the
rocks.

• LXXXVI. Besides these cases I observe that The starfish.
authors renowned for their wisdom express surprise
at there being a star in the sea : that is the shape
of the fish/1 which has rather little flesh inside it but
a rather hard rind outside. They say that this fish
contains such fiery heat that it scorches all the things
it touches in the sea, and digests all food immedi-
ately. I cannot readily say by what experiments
this has been ascertained, and I should consider a
fact that there is daily opportunity of experiencing
to be much more worth recording.

LXXXVII. The class shellfish includes the piddock, The pm>dc.
named finger-mussel from its resemblance to a
human finger-nail. It is the nature of these fish to
shine in darkness with a bright light when other
light is removed, and in proportion to their amount
of moisture to glitter both in the mouth of persons
masticating them and in their hands, and even on the
floor and on their clothes when drops fall from them,
making it clear beyond all doubt that their juice
possesses a property that we should marvel at even in
a solid object.

LXXXVIII. There are also remarkable facts as

their quarrels and their friendship. Violent ani- p

mosity rages between the mullet and the wolf-fish,
and between the conger and the lamprey, which fish.

287

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dentes. polypum in tantum locust a pavet ut si
iuxta viderit omnino moriatur, locustam conger;
rursus polypum congri lacerant. Nigidius auctor est
praerodere caudam mugili lupum. eosdemque
statis1 mensibus Concordes esse, omnes autem
186 vivere quibus caudae sic amputentur. at e contrario
aroicitiae exempla sunt, praeter ilia quorum diximus
soeietatem, ballaena et musculus, quando praegravi
superciliorum pondere obrutis eius ocuhs infestantia
magnitudinem vada praenatans demonstrat oculo-
rumque vice fungitur.
Hinc volucrum naturae dicentur.

1 v.L aestatis.

288

BOOK IX. LXXXVIII. 185-186

gnaw each other's tails. The langouste is so terrified
of the polyp that it dies if it merely sees one near
to it, and so does the conger if it sees a langouste ;
while on the other hand congers tear a polyp to
pieces. Nigidius states that the wolf-fish gnaws
at the tail of the mullet, although they are friendly
together in certain months, but that all the mullets
with their tails amputated in this way continue to
live. But on the other hand instances of friendship,
in addition to the creatures whose alliance we have
mentioned,* are the whale and the sea-mouse :
because the whale's eyes are over-burdened with
the excessively heavy weight of its brows the sea-
mouse swims in front of it and points out the
shallows dangerous to its bulky size, so acting as
a substitute for eyes.

There will follow an account of the natures of birds.

« See § 142.

VOL. III.

BOOK X

LIBER X

I. Sequitur natura avium, quarum grandissimi et
paene bestlarum generis struthocameli Africi vel
Aethlopici altitudinem equitis insidentis equo exce-
dunt, celeritatem vincunt, ad hoc demum datis
pinnis ut currentem adiuvent: cetero non sunt
volucres nee a terra attolluntur.1 ungulae iis cer-
vinis similes quibus dimicant, bisulcae et conpre-
hendendis lapidibus utiles quos in fuga contra

2 sequentes ingerunt pedibus. concoquendi sine
dilectu devorata mira natura, sed non minus stoli-
ditas in tanta reliqui corporis altitudine cum colla
frutice occultaverint latere sese existimantium.
praemira 2 ex iis ova propter amplitudinem quibus-
dam habita pro vasis, conosque bellicos et galeas
adornantes pinnae.

3 II. Aethiopiae atque Indis discolores maxime et
inenarrabiles esse 3 ferunt aves et ante omnes nobilem
Arabiae phoenicem, haut scio an fabulose, unum in
toto orbe nee visum magno opere. aquilae narratur
magnitudine, auri fulgore circa colla, cetero pur-
pureus, caeruleam roseis caudam pinnis distingu-

1 MayJwffi tolluntur.

2 Dettefsen : praemia.

3 sic ? Mayhoff : Aethiopes atque Indi . . . iuenarrabiles.

a This description tallies fairly closely with, the golden
pheasant of the Par East.

292

BOOK X

I. THE next subject is the Nature of Birds. Of Birds. The
these the largest species, which almost belongs to the ostnch*
class of animals, the ostrich of Africa or Ethiopia,
exceeds the height and surpasses the speed of a
mounted horseman, its wings being bestowed upon

it merely as an assistance in running, but otherwise
it is not a flying creature and does not rise from
the earth. It has talons resembling a stag's hooves,
which it uses as weapons ; they are cloven in two,
and are useful for grasping stones which when in
flight it flings with its feet against its pursuers. Its
capacity for digesting the objects that it swallows
down indiscriminately is remarkable, but not less so
is its stupidity in thinking that it is concealed when
it has hidden its neck among bushes, in spite of the
great height of the rest of its body. The eggs of the
ostrich are extremely remarkable for their size;
some people use them as vessels, and the feathers for
adorning the crests and helmets of warriors.

II. They say that Ethiopia and the Indies possess The phoenix.
birds extremely variegated in colour and indescrib-
able, and that Arabia has one that is famous before

all others (though perhaps it is fabulous), the phoenix,
the only one in the whole world and hardly ever
seen. The story is a that it is as large as an eagle, and
has a gleam of gold round its neck and all the rest of
it is purple, but the tail blue picked out with rose-

293

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

entibus, cristis fauces, caputque plumeo apice

4 honestante. primus atque diligentissime togatorum
de eo prodidit Manilius senator ille maximis nobilis
doctrinis doctore miller, neminem exstitisse qui
viderit vescentem, sacrum in Arabia Soli esse,
vivere annis DXL, senescentem cassiae turisque
surculis cons truer e nidum, replere odoribus et
superemori ; ex ossibus deinde et medullis eius nasci
primo ceu vermiculum, inde fieri pullum, principioque
iusta funera priori reddere et totum deferre nidum
prope Panchaiam inSolis urbem et in ara ibi deponere.

5 cum huius alitis vita magni conversionem anni fieri
prodit idem Manilius, iterumque significationes
tempestatum et siderum easdem reverti, hoc autem
circa meridiem incipere quo die signum arietis
sol intraverit, et fuisse eius conversions annum
prodente se P. Licinio Cn. Cornelio coss. ccxv.
Cornelius Valerianus phoenicem devolavisse in
Aegyptum tradit Q. Plautio Sexto Papinio coss. ;
allatus est et in urbem Claudii principis censura
anno urbis r>ccc et in comitio propositus, quod
actis testatum est, sed quern falsum esse nemo
dubitaret.

6 III. Ex his quas novimus aquilae maximus honos,
maxima et vis. sex earum genera, melanaetos a

a 97 B.C. & A.D. 36. e A.D. 47.

d Of these melanaetos is either the Golden or the Imperial
Eagle, yygargus is the White-tailed Sea-Eagle or erne,
Twliaetos the Osprey, morphnos or percnos the Bald Buzzard ;
but percnopterus and gnesius are unidentifiable as species
separate from the others.

294

BOOK X. ii. 3-ra. 6

coloured feathers and the throat picked out with
tufts , and a feathered crest adorning its head. The
first and the most detailed Roman account of it was
given by Manilius, the eminent senator famed for
his extreme and varied learning acquired without a
teacher: he stated that nobody has ever existed
that has seen one feeding, that in Arabia it is
sacred to the Sun-god, that it lives 540 years, that
when it is growing old it constructs a nest with
sprigs of wild cinnamon and frankincense, fills it
with scents and lies on it till it dies ; that subse-
quently from its bones and marrow is born first a
sort of maggot, and this grows into a chicken, and that
this begins by paying due funeral rites to the former
bird and carrying the whole nest down to the City
of the Sun near Panchaia and depositing it upon an
altar there. Manilius also states that the period of
the Great Year coincides with the life of this bird,
and that the same indications of the seasons and stars
return again, and that this begins about noon on the
day on which the sun enters the sign of the Ram,
and that the year of this period had been 215, as
reported by him, in the consulship01 of Publius
Licinius and Gnaeus Cornelius. Cornelius Valerianus
reports that a phoenix flew down into Egypt in the
consulship 6 of Quintus Plautius and Sextus Papinius ;
it was even brought to Rome in the Censorship of
the Emperor Claudius, A.U.C. 800 c and displayed in
the Comitium, a fact attested by the Records,
although nobody would doubt that this phoenix was
a fabrication.

III. Of the birds known to us the eagle is the most
honourable and also the strongest. Of eagles there ea^e'
are six kinds.-2 The one called by the Greeks the black

295

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Graecis dicta, eadem leporaria,1 minima magnitudine,
viribus praecipua, colore nigrlcans. sola aquilarum
fetus suos alit, ceterae, ut dicemus, fugant ; sola sine
clangore, sine murmuratione. conversatur autem in

7 montibus. secundi generis pygargus in oppidis et in
campis, albicante cauda. tertii morphnos, quam
Horn ems et percnum vocat, aliqui et plangum et
anatariam, secunda magnitudine et vi; huic vita
circa lacus. Phemonoe Apollinis dicta filia dentes
esse ei prodidit mutae alias carentique lingua,
eandem aquilarum nigerrimam, prominentiore cauda.
consentit et Boethus.2 ingenium est ei3 testudines
raptas frangere e sublfmi iaciendo, quae fors interemit
poetam Aeschylum praedictam fatis, ut ferunt, eius-

8 modi 4 ruinam secura caeli fide caventem. item quarti
generis est percnopterus, eadem oripelargus, vul-
turina specie alis minimis, reliqua magnitudine
antecellens, sed inbellis et degener, ut quam verberet
corvus. eadem ieiunae semper aviditatis et querulae
murmurationis. sola aquilarum exanimata 5 aufert 6
corpora, ceterae cum occidere considunt. haec facit
ut quintum genus yvrjcnov vocetur velut verum
solumque incorruptae originis, media magnitudine,
colore subrutilo, rarum conspectu. superest

1 Mueller (cf. Xay<acf>6vos Ar.} : in Valeria.
lUdd* (Boeus. hid-as Detlefeen) : Boethtdus.
v.l. et.

RackTiam (eius diei edd.); eidei aut diei,
Dcdecamp : exanima.
JtackTiam : fert.

0 Aristotle calls it the hare-killing eagle.
6 Probably the marsh-harrier.
c Priestess at Delphi.

d I.e. by keeping in the open and avoiding trees and buildings
from which objects might fall on him.

296

BOOK X. in. 6-8

eagle, and also the hare-eagle,0 is smallest in size and
of outstanding strength ; it is of a blackish colour.
It is the only eagle that rears its own young, whereas
all the others, as we shall describe, drive them away ;
and it is the only one that has no scream or cry. Its
haunt is in the mountains. To the second kind be-
longs the white-rump eagle found in towns and in
level country ; it has a whitish tail. To the third the
morphnosf wjiich Homer also calls the dusky eagle,
and some the plangos and also the duck-eagle ; it is
second in size and strength, and it lives in the neigh-
bourhood of lakes. Phemonoe,c who was styled
Daughter of Apollo, has stated that it possesses teeth,
but that it is mute and voiceless ; also that it is the
darkest of the eagles in colour, and has an exception-
ally prominent tail. Boethus also agrees. It has a
clever device for breaking tortoise-shells that it has
carried off, by dropping them from a height; this
accident caused the death of the poet Aeschylus,
who was trying to avoid a disaster of this nature that
had been foretold by the fates, as the story goes,
by trustfully relying on the open sky.d Next, the
fourth class comprises the hawk-eagle, also called
the mountain stork, which resembles a vulture in
having very small wings but exceeds it in the size
of its other parts, and yet is unwarlike and degener-
ate, as it allows a crow to flog it. It is always
ravenously greedy, and keeps up a plaintive scream-
ing. It is the only eagle that carries away the dead
bodies of its prey ; all the others after killing alight
on the spot. This species causes the fifth kind to be
called the ' true eagle/ as being the genuine kind and
the only pure-bred one ; it is of medium, size and dull
reddish colour, and it is rarely seen. There remains

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

haliaetus, clarrissima oculorum acie, librans ex alto
sese visoque in mari pisce praeceps in eum ruens et
9 discussis pectore aquis rapiens. ilia quam tertiam
fecimus aquaticas aves circa stagna adpetit mergentes
se subinde, donee sopitas lassatasque rapiat. spec-
tanda dimicatio, ave ad perfugia litorum tendente,
maxime si condensa harundo sit, aquila inde ictu
abigente alae et, cum adpetat in lacu, scandente x
umbramque suam nanti sub aqua a litore ostendente,
rursus ave in diversa2 et ubi minime se credat expec-
tari emergent e. haec causa gregatim avibus natandi ,
quia plures simul non infestantur respersu pinna-
rum hostem occaecantes. saepe et aquilae ipsae non
tolerantes pondus adprehensum una merguntur.

10 haliaetus tantum inplumes etiamnum pullos suos
percutiens subinde cogit adversos intueri solis radios
et, si coniventem humectantemque animadvertit,
praecipitat e nido velut adulterinum atque degene-
rem; ilium cuius acies firma contra stetit educat.

11 haliaeti suum genus non habent, sed ex diverso
aquilarum coitu nascuntur; id quidem quod ex his
natum est in ossifragis genus habet e quibus vultures
minores progenerantur, et ex his magni qui omnino
non generant. quidam adiciunt genus aquilae
quam barbatam vocant, Tusci vero ossifragam.

12 IV. Tribus primis et quinto aquilarum generi

1 Mayhoff: cadente. 2 v.l. diverso.

a Perhaps the lammeigeier, gypaetus larbatus.
298

BOOK X. m. 8-iv. 12

the osprey, which has very keen eye-sight, and
which hovers at a great height and when it sees a fish
in the sea drops on it with a swoop and cleaving the
water with its breast catches it. The species that
we made the third hunts round marshes for water-
birds, which at once dive, till they become drowsy
and exhausted, when it catches them. The duel is
worth watching, the bird making for refuge on the
shore, especially if there is a dense reed-bed, and the
eagle driving it away from the shore with a blow of
its wing ; and when it is hunting its quarry in a lake,
soaring and showing its shadow to the bird swimming
under water away from the shore, so that the bird
turns back again and comes to the surface at a place
where it thinks it is least expected. This is the
reason why birds swim in flocks, because several are
not attacked at the same tune, since they blind the
enemy by splashing him with their wings. Often
even the eagles themselves cannot carry tl^e weight of
their catch and are drowned with it. The sea-eagle
only compels its still unfledged chicks by beating
them to gaze full at the rays of the sun, and if it
notices one blinking and with its eyes watering flings
it out of the nest as a bastard and not true to stock,
whereas one whose gaze stands firm against the light
it rears. Sea-eagles have no breed of their own but
are born from cross-breeding with other eagles ; but
the offspring of a pair of sea-eagles belongs to the
osprey genus, from which spring the smaller vultures,
and from these the great vultures which do not breed
at all. Some people add a species of eagle which
they call the bearded eagle,* but which the Tuscans
call an ossifrage.
IV. The three first and the fifth kinds of eagle have

299

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

inaedificatur nido lapis aetites (quern aliqui dixere
gagiten 1) ad multa remedia utilis, nihil igne deper-
dens. est autem lapis iste praegnans intus alio,
cum quatias velut in urceo2 sonante. sed vis ilia

13 medica non nisi nido dereptis. nidificant in petris
et arboribus, pariunt et ova terna, excludunt pullos
binos, visi sunt et tres aliquando. alterum expellunt
taedio nutriendi: quippe eo tempore ipsis cibum
negavit natura prospiciens ne omnium ferarum fetus
raperentur; ungues quoque earum invertuntur
diebus iis, albescunt inedia pinnae, ut merito partus
suos oderint, sed eiectos ab his cognatum genus

14 ossifragi excipiunt et educant cum suis. verum
adultos quoque persequitur parens et longe fugat,
aemulos scilicet rapinae. et alioquin unum par
aquilarum magno ad populandum tractu, ut satietur,
indiget; determinant ergo spatia, nee in proximo
praedantur. rapta non protinus ferunt, sed primo
deponunt, expertaeque pondus tune demumavehunt.3

15 oppetunt non senio nee aegritudine sed fame, in
tantum superiore adcrescente rostro ut aduncitas
aperiri non queat. a meridiano autem tempore
operantur et volant, prioribus horis diei, donee

1 V.ll. gagyten, ga^gaten. a Mueller i utero.

3 Pintianus : abeunt.

tf See § 11 n.
300

BOOK X. iv. 12-15

the stone called eagle-stone (named by some gagites)
built into their nests, which is useful for many cures,
and loses none of its virtue by fire. The stone in
question is big with another inside it, which rattles
as if in a jar when you shake it. But only those
taken from a nest possess the medicinal power
referred to. They build their nests in rocks and
trees, and lay as many as three eggs at a time, but
they shut out two chicks of the brood, and have been
seen on occasion to eject even three. They drive
out the other chick when they are tired of feeding it :
indeed at this period nature has denied food to the
parent birds themselves as a precaution, so that the
young of all the wild animals should not be plundered ;
also during those days the birds' talons turn inward,
and their feathers grow white from want of food, so
that with good reason they hate their own offspring.
But the chicks thrown out by these birds are received
by the kindred breed, the bearded eagles/1 who
rear them with their own. However the parent bird
pursues them even when grown up, and drives them
far away, doubtless because they are competitors in
the chase. And apart from this a single pair of eagles
in order to get enough food requires a large tract of
country to hunt over; consequently they mark out
districts, and do not poach on their neighbours' pre-
serves. When they have made a catch they do not
carry it off at once, but first lay it on the ground, and
only fly away with it after first testing its weight.
They meet their end not from old age nor sickness but
from hunger, as their upper mandible grows to such a
size that it is too hooked for them to be able to open it.
They get busy and fly in the afternoon, but in the
earlier hours of the day they perch quite idle till the

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

impleantur hominum conventu fora, ignavae sedent.
aquilarum pinnae mixtas reliquarum alitum pinnas
devorant. negant umquam solam hanc alitem
fulmine exanimatam ; ideo armigeram lovis consue-
tude iudicavit.

16 V. Romanis cam legionibus Gaius Marius in
secundo consulatu suo proprie dicavit. erat et antea
prima cum quattuor aliis: lupi, minotauri, equi
aprique singulos ordines anteibant ; paucis ante annis
sola in aciem portari coepta erat, reliqua in castris
relinquebantur; Marius in totum ea abdicavit. ex
eo notatum non fere legionis umquam hiberna esse
castra ubi aquilarum non sit iugum.

17 Primo et secundo generi non minorum tantum
quadripedum rapina sed etiam cum cervis proelia.
multum pulverem volutatu collectum insidens corni-
bus excutit in oculos, pinnis ora verberans, donee
praecipitet in rupes, nee unus hostis illi satis : est
acrior1 cum dracone pugna multoque magis anceps,
etiamsi in aere. ova hie consectatur aquilae aviditate
malefica ; aquila 2 hoc rapit ubicumque visum. ille
multiplici nexu alas ligat ita se inplicans ut simul
decidat ipse.a

18 VL Celebris apud Seston urbem aquilae gloria
est: educatam a virgine retulisse gratiam aves primo,

1 v.l. satis est ; acrior est.

2 Mayhoff : ab ilia aut at ilia.
3 ipse Mayhoff: saepe (aut est percelebris).

0 Pliny is translating Trepl dyopav v
b 104 B.o.

302

BOOK X. iv. 15-vi. 18

market-places fill with a gathering of people.05 If
eagles' feathers have the feathers of any other birds
mixed with them, they swallow them up. It is
stated that this is the only bird that is never killed by
a thunderbolt ; this is why custom has deemed the
eagle to be Jupiter's armour-bearer.

V. The eagle was assigned to the Roman legions

as their special badge by Gaius Marius in his second fHHge.
consulship.6 Even previously it had been their first
badge, with four others, wolves, minotaurs, horses
and boars going in front of the respective ranks;
but a few years before the custom had come in of
carrying the eagles alone into action, the rest being
left behind in camp. Marius discarded them alto-
gether. Thenceforward it was noticed that there
was scarcely ever a legion's winter camp without a
pair of eagles being in the neighbourhood.

The first and second kinds not only carry off the
smaller four-footed animals but actually do battle mates.
with stags. The eagle collects a quantity of dust
by rolling in it, and perching on the stag's horns
shakes it off into its eyes, striking its head with its
wings, until it brings it down on to the rocks. Nor is
it content with one foe : it has a fiercer battle with a
great serpent, and one that is of much more doubtful
issue, even though it is in the air. The serpent with
mischievous greed tries to get the eagle's eggs ; con-
sequently the eagle carries it off wherever seen. The
serpent fetters its wings by twining itself round them
in manifold coils so closely that it falls to the ground
itself with the snake.

VI. At the city of Sestos the fame of an eagle is
celebrated, the story being that it was reared by a
maiden and that it repaid its gratitude by bringing

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mox delude venatus adgerentem, defuncta postremo
in rogum accensum eius iniecisse sese et simul
conflagrasse. quam ob causam incolae quod vocant
heroum in eo loco fecere appellatum lovis et virgmis,
quoniam illi deo ales adscribitur.

19 VII. Vulturum praevalent nigri. nidos nemo
attigit; ideo et fuere qui putarent illos ex ad verso
orbe advolare, falso: nidificant in excelsissimis
rupibus. fetus quidem saepe cernuntur, fere bini.
Umbricius haruspicum in nostro aevo peritissimus
parere tradit ova tredecim, uno ex his reliqua ova
nidumque lustrare, mox abicere ; triduo autem ante
advolare cos ubi cadavera futura sunt.

20 VIII. Sanqualem avem atque inmusulum augur es
Romani magna in quaestione habent. inmusulum
aliqui vulturis pullum arbitrantur esse et sanqualem
ossifragae. Masurius sanqualem ossifragam esse
dicit, inmusulum autem pullum aquilae priusquam
albicet cauda. quidam post Mucium augurem visos
non esse Romae confirmavere, ego, quod veri similius,
in desidia rerum omnium arbitror non agnitos.

21 IX. Accipitrum genera sedecim invenimus : ex his
aegithurn claudum altero pede prosperrimi augurii
nuptialibus negotiis et pecuariae rei: triorchem a
numero testium, cui principatum in auguriis Phemo-

fl Died about 87 B.C.

BOOK X. vi. i8-ix. 21

to her first birds and soon afterwards big game, and
when finally she died it threw itself upon her lighted
pyre and was burnt with her. On account of this
the inhabitants made what is called a heroon in that
place, which is named the Shrine of Jupiter and the
Maiden, because the bird is assigned to that deity.

VII. Of vultures the black are the strongest. No The vulture.
one has ever reached their nests, and consequently

there have actually been persons who have thought
that they fly here from the opposite side of the globe.
This is a mistake : they make their nests on extremely
lofty crags. Their chicks indeed are often seen,
usually in pairs. The most learned augur of our age,
Umbricius, states that they lay thirteen eggs, but
use one of them for cleaning the remaining eggs and
the nest and then throw it away; but that three
days before they lay the eggs they fly to some place
where there will be dead bodies.

VIII. There is great question among the Roman ^esan-

, . ,i6 H -,. -, ,, s . 1 gualts and

augurs about the sanqualis and the immusulus. the im~
Some think that the immusulus is the chick of the musulus-
vulture and the sanqualis of the bearded vulture.
Masurius says that the sanqualis is a bearded vulture
and the immusulus an eagle's chick before its tail
turns white. Some persons have asserted that they
have not been seen at Rome since the time of the
augur Mucius,0 but for my own part I think it more
probable that in the general slackness that prevails
they have not been recognized.

IX. Of hawks we find sixteen kinds, and among ^j?'1^
these the aegithus, which when lame in one foot is of aegithm ;
very fortunate omen for marriage contracts and for
property in cattle, and the triorchis, named from the
number of its testicles, the bird to which Phemonoe

3°5

VOL. III. X #

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

noe dedit. buteonem hunc appellant Roman! ,
familia etiam ex eo cognominata, cum prospero
auspicio in duels navi sedisset. epileum Graeci
vocant qui solus omni tempore apparet, ceteri hieme

22 abeunt. distinctio generum ex aviditate: alii non
nisi e terra rapiunt avem, alii non nisi circa arbores
volitantem, alii sedentem in sublimi, aliqui volantem
in aperto. itaque et columbae novere ex his pericula,
visoque considunt, vel subvolant, contra naturam eius
auxiliantes sibi. in insula Africae Cerne in ocean o
accipitres totius Massaesyliae humi fetincant, nee
alibi nascuntur, illis adsueti gentibus.

23 X. In Thraciae parte super Amphipolim homines
et accipitres societate quadam aucupantur: hi ex
silvis et harundinetis excitant aves, illi supervolantes
deprimunt rursus ; captas aucupes dividunt cum his.
traditum est missas in sublime ibi1 excipere eos, et
cum sit tempus capturae, clangore ac volatus genere
invitare ad occasionem. simile quiddam lupi ad
Maeotim paludem faciunt; nam nisi partem a
piscantibus suam accepere, expansa corum retia
lacerant.

24 Accipitres avium non edunt corda. nocturnus
accipiter cybindis vocatur, rarus etiam in silvis, inter-
diu minus cernens. bellum internecivum gerit cum
aquila, cohaerentesque saepe prenduntur.

1 v.l. sibi.

a I.e. bnzzard.

b Some way down the N.W. African coast outside the Straits
of Gibraltar.

306

BOOK X. ix. 2i-x, 24

gave primacy among auguries. The Roman name
for it is buteof which is also the surname of a family,
assumed because one perched on an admiral's ship
with good omen. The Greeks give the name of
merlin to the only species that appears at every the merlin.
season, whereas all the others go away in winter.
The varieties of hawks are distinguished by their
appetite for food : some only snatch a bird off the
ground, others only one fluttering round a tree,
others one that perches high in the branches, others
one flying in the open. Consequently even the doves
know the risks that they run from hawks, and when
they see one they alight, or else fly upward, safe-
guarding themselves by going counter to the hawk's
nature. The hawks of the whole of Massaesylia
lay their eggs on the ground in Cerne,6 an island of
Africa in the Ocean, and they do not breed elsewhere,
as they are accustomed to the natives of that island.

X, In the district of Thrace inland from Amphipolis Rawing.
men and hawks have a sort of partnership for fowling :
the men put up the birds from woods and reed-beds
and the hawks flying overhead drive them down
again; the fowlers share the bag with the hawks.
It is reported that when the birds have been put up
the hawks intercept them in the air, and when it is
time for a catch invite the sportsmen to take the
opportunity by their screaming and their way of
flying. Wolf-fish at the Maeotic Marsh act somewhat
in the same way, for unless they get their share from
fishermen they tear their nets when spread.

Hawks do not eat the hearts of birds. The night- The night-
hawk is called cybindis ; it is rare even in forests, and hawt'
cannot see very well in the daytime. It wages war
to the death with the eagle, and they are often taken
clinging together in each other's clutches.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

25 XL Coccyx videtur ex accipitre fieri tempore anni
figuram mutans, quoniam tune non apparent reliqui
nisi perquam paucis diebus, ipse quoque modico
tempore aestatis visus non cernitur postea. est
autem neque aduncis unguibus, solus accipitrum,
nee capite similis illis neque alio quam colore, habitu 1
columbi potius. quin et absumitur ab accipitre, si
quando una apparuere, sola omnium avis a suo genere

26 interempta. mutat autem et vocem, procedit vere,
occultatur caniculae ortu, inter quae 2 parit in alienis
nidis, maxime palumbium, maiore ex parte singula
ova, quod nulla alia avis, raro bina. causa pullos
subiciendi putatur quod sciat se invisam cunctis
avibus, nam minutae quoque infestant ; ita non fore
tutam generi suo stirpem opinatur ni fefellerit, quare
nullum facit nidum, alioqui3 trepidum animal.

27 educat ergo subditum adulterate feta nido. ille
avidus ex natura praeripit cibos reliquis pullis, itaque
et nitidus in se nutricem convertit. ilia gaudet eius
specie nairaturque sese ipsam quod talem pepererit ;
suos comparatione eius damnat ut alienos. absu-
mique etiam se inspectante patitur, donee corripiat

1 Deilefsen : ao visu aut ac victu.

2 Mayhoff : inter que (semper c|ue edd.).
8 <et> alioqui ? Maytoff*

a This belief is held at the present time in some parts of
Britain. Of course the cuckoo is not of the hawk species.
b It is really a migrant.
* As a matter of fact this is never the case.
4 All of what follows is untrue.

308

BOOK X. xi. 25-27

XL The cuckoo seems to be made by changing its The cucko
shape out of a hawk a at a certain season of the year,

as the rest of the hawks do not appear then, except Its ?«*«w
on a very few days, and the cuckoo itself also after hablt*'
being seen for a moderate period of the summer is
not observed afterwards. But the cuckoo is alone
among the hawks in not having crooked talons, and
also it is not like the other hawks in the head or in
anything else but colour : it rather has the general
appearance of the pigeon. Moreover a hawk will
eat a cuckoo, if ever both have appeared at the same
time : the cuckoo is the only one of all the birds that
is killed by its own kind. And it also changes its
voice. It comes out in the spring and goes into
hiding * at the rising of the dog-star, between which
dates it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds,
usually c wood-pigeons, for the most part one egg at a
time, as does no other bird ; it seldom lays two. Its
reason for foisting its chicks on other birds is supposed
to be that it knows itself to be hated by the whole of
the birds, for even the very small birds attack it;
consequently it thinks that a progeny will not be
secured for its race unless it has escaped notice, for
which reason it makes no nest ; it is a timid creature
in general. Therefore the brooding hen in the nest
thus cuckolded rears the changeling. The young
cuckoo d being by nature greedy snatches the bits of
food away from the rest of the chicks, and so gets fat
and attracts the mother bird to itself by its sleek
appearance. She delights in its beauty and admires
herself for having borne such a child, while in
comparison with it she convicts her own chicks of
not belonging to her, and lets them be eaten up
even under her own eyes, until finally the cuckoo,

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ipsam quoque iam volandi potens. nulla tune avium
suavitate camis comparatur illi.

28 XIL Milvi ex eodem accipitrum genere magnitu-
dine differunt. notatum in his rapacissimam et
famelicam semper alitem nihil esculenti rap ere
umquam ex funerum ferculis nee Olympiae ex ara,
ac ne ferentium quidem manibus nisi lugubri manci-
piorum 1 tmmolantium ostento. idem videntur artem
gubernandi docuisse caudae flexibus, in caelo
monstrante natura quod opus esset in profundo.
milvi et ipsi hibernis mensibus latent, non tamen ante
hirundinem abeuntes ; traduntur autem et a solstitiis
adfici podagra.

29 XIII. Volucrum prima distinctio pedibus maxime
constat ; aut enim aduncos ungues habent aut digit os,
aut palmipedum in genere sunt ut anseres et aqua-
ticae fere aves. aduncos ungues habentia carne

30 tantum vescuntur ex parte magna ; (XIV) cornices et
alio pabulo, ut quae duritiam nueis rostro repugnan-
tem volantes in altum in saxa tegulasve iaeiant
iterum ac saepius, donee quassatam perfringere
queant. ipsa ales est inauspicatae garrulitatis, a
quibusdam tamen laudata. ab arcturi sidere ad
hirundinum adventum notatur earn in Minervae lucis
templisque raro, alicubi omnino non aspici, sicut
Athenis : inauspicatissima fetus tempore, hoc est
post solstitium.2 praeterea sola haec etiam volantes

1 Detlefsen : mtmicipiorum.

2 inauspicatissima . . . solstitium hie Mueller : post pascit
codd.

a Crows as a matter of fact have no talons.
310

BOOK X. XT. 27-xiv. 30

now able to fly, seizes the mother bird herself as
well. At this stage no sort of bird will compare with
a young cuckoo for savoury flavour.

XII. Kites belong to the same genus as hawks The ute,
but differ in size. It has been noticed in regard to

this species that though a most rapacious bird and
always hungry it never steals any edible from the
oblations at funerals nor from the altar at Olympia
and not even out of the hands of the people bringing
the offsprings except with a gloomy portent for
the slaves performing the sacrifice. Also it seems
that this bird by its manipulation of its tail taught
the art of steersmanship, nature demonstrating in
the sky what was required in the deep. Kites them-
selves also are not seen in the winter months, though
not departing before the swallow; it is reported
however that they suffer from gout even from
midsummer onward.

XIII. The primary distinction between birds is Taioned
established especially by the feet; for either they c^/ l
have hooked talons or claws or they are in the web-
footed class like geese and water-fowl generally.

If they have hooked talons they live for the most part
only on flesh ; (XIV) though crows a eat other food as
well, as if a nut is so hard that it resists their beak they
fly up aloft and drop it two or more times onto rocks or
roof-tiles, till it is cracked and they can break it open.
The bird itself has a persistent croak that is unlucky,
although some people speak well of it. It is noticed
that from the rising of Arcturus to the arrival of the
swallows it is rarely seen in groves and temples of
Minerva and never at all elsewhere, as is the case at
Athens ; it is most unlucky at its breeding season,
that is, after midsummer. Moreover this bird alone

311

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

31 pullos aliquamdiu pascit; (XV) ceterae omnes ex
eodem gen ere pellunt nidis pullos ac volare cogunt,
sicut et corvi ; qui et ipsi non carne tantum aluntur
sed robustos quoque fetus suos fugant longius.
itaque parvis in vicis non plus bina coniugia sunt,
circa Crannonem quidem Thes- saliae singula
perpetuo ; genitores suboli loco cedunt.

32 Diversa in hac et supradicta alite quaedam,
corvi ante solstitium generant, idem aegrescunt
sexagenis diebus, siti maxime, antequam fici co-
quantur autumno; cornix ab eo tempore corripitur
morbo.

Corvi pariunt cum plurimum quinos. ore eos
parere aut coire vulgus arbitratur (ideoque gravidas,
si ederint corvinum ovum, per os partum reddere,
atque in totum difficult er parere si tecto infer antur) ;
Aristoteles negat, non Hercule magis quam in
Aegypto ibinij sed illam exosculationem (quae saepe

33 cernitur) qualem in columbis esse. corvi in auspiciis
soli videntur intellectum habere significationum
suarum; nam cum1 Medi hospites occisi sunt,
omnes e Peloponneso et Attica regione volaverunt.
pessima eorum significatio cum gluttiunt vocem velut
strangulati.

1 cum <ad Pharsalam) ? Mayhoff ex Ar. Post. An. IX
619b 14.

« This is from Aristotle Hist. An. IZ 618& 14. Medus or
Medeios, son of Medea, was supposed to have given. the
Medes their name.

312

BOOK X. xiv. 3o-xv. 33

continues feeding its chicks for some time even when
they can fly ; (XV) whereas all the other birds of the
same class drive their chicks out of the nests and
compel them to fly, as also do ravens. These not
only feed on flesh themselves too, but also drive away
their chicks when strong to a considerable distance.
Consequently in small villages there are not more
than two pairs of ravens, and in fact in the neigh-
bourhood of Crannon in Thessaly there is one pair
permanently in each place; the parents retire to
make room for their offspring.

There are certain points of difference between this the raven;
bird and the one mentioned above. Ravens breed
before midsummer, also they have 60 days of ill-
health, principally owing to thirst, before the figs
ripen in the autumn; whereas the crow is seized
with sickness from that day onward.

Ravens produce broods of five at most. There is a
popular belief that they lay eggs, or else mate, with
the beak (and that consequently if women with child
eat a raven's egg they bear the infant through the
mouth, and that altogether they have a difficult
delivery if raven's eggs are brought into the house) ;
but Aristotle says that this is not true of the raven, any
more indeed than it is of the ibis in Egypt, but that
the billing in question (which is often noticed) is a
form of kissing, like that which takes place between
pigeons. Ravens seem to be the only birds that
have an understanding of the meanings that they
convey in auspices ; for when the guests of Medus
were murdered, all the ravens in the Peloponnese
and Attica flew away.a It is a specially bad amen
when they gulp down their croak as if they were
choking.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

34 XVI. Uncos ungues et nocturnae aves habent, ut
noctuae, bubo, ululae. omnium horum hebetes
interdiu oculi. bubo funebris et maxime abominatus
publicis praecipue auspiciis deserta incolit nee
tantum desolata sed dira etiam et inaccessa, noctis
monstrum, nee cantu aliquo vocalis sed gemitu,

35 itaque in urbibus aut omnino in luce visus dirum
ostentum est; privatorum domibus insidentem
plurium scio non fuisse feralem. volat numquam
quo libuit, sed traversus aufertur. Capitolii cellam
ipsam intravit Sexto Palpellio Histro L. Pedanio
coss.j propter quod nonis Martiis urbs lustrata est
eo anno.

36 XVIL Inauspicata est et incendiaria avis, quam
propter saepenumero lustratam urbem in annalibus
invenimus, sicut L. Cassjo C. Mario coss., quo anno
et bubone viso lustratam esse. quae sit avis ea
non reperitur nee traditur. quidam ita interpre-
tantur, incendiariam esse quaecumque apparuerit
carbonem ferens ex aris vel altaribus : alii spmturni-
cem earn vocant, sed haec ipsa quae esset inter aves

37 qui se scire diceret non inveni. cliviam quoque avem
ab antiquis nominatamanimadvertoignorari — quidam
ckmatoriam dieunt, Labeo prohibitoriam ; et apud

a A.I>. 43. » 107 B.O.

BOOK X. xvi. 34-xvn. 37

XVL Night birds also have hooked talons, for owls.
instance the little owl, the eagle-owl and the
screech-owl. All of these are dim-sighted in the
daytime. The eagle-owl is a funereal bird, and is
regarded as an extremely bad omen, especially at
public auspices ; it inhabits deserts and places that
are not merely unfrequented but terrifying and
inaccessible ; a wierd creature of the night, its cry
is not a musical note but a scream. Consequenlty
when seen in cities or by daylight in any circum-
stances it is a direful portent; but I know several
cases of its having perched on the houses of private
persons without fatal consequences. It never flies
in the direction where it wants to go, but travels
slantwise out of its course. In the consulship a of
Sextus Palpellius Hister and Lucius Pedanius an
eagle-owl entered the very shrine of the Capitol, on
account of which a purification of the city was held
on March 7th in that year.

XVII. There is also a bird of ill-omen called the Unknown
fire-bird, on account of which we find in the annals \u^men.
that the city has often had a ritual purification, for
instance in the consulship 6 of Lucius Cassius and
Gaius Marius, in which year the appearance of an
eagle-owl also occasioned a purification. What this
bird was I cannot discover, and it is not recorded.
Some persons give this interpretation, that the
fire-bird was any bird that was seen carrying a coal
from an altar or altar-table; others call it a
* spinturnix,' c but I have not found anybody who
professes to know what particular species of bird
that is. I also notice that the bird named by the
ancients * clivia * is unidentified — some call it
screech-owl/ Labeo ' warning owl * ; and moreover

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Nigidium insuper1 appellatur avis quae aquilarum
ova frangat. sunt praeterea conplura genera depicta
in Etrusca disciplina saeculis non visa, quae mine
defecisse minim est cum abundent etiam quae gula
humana populatur.

38 XVIII. Externorum de auguriis peritissime scrip-
sisse Hylas nomine putatur. is tradit noctuam,
bubonem, picum arbores cavantem, trygonam,
cornicem a cauda ovo 2 exire, quoniam pondere
capitum perversa ova posteriorem partem corporum
fovendam matri adplicent.

39 XIX. Noctuarum contra aves sellers dimicatio.
maiore circumdatae multitudine resupinae pedibus
repugnant collectaeque in artum rostro et unguibus
totae teguntur. auxiliatur accipiter collegio quo-
dam naturae bellumque partitur. noctuas sexagenis
diebus hiemis cubare et novem voces habere tradit
Nigidius.

40 XX. Sunt et parvae aves uncorum unguium, ut
pici Martio cognomine insignes et in auspicatu3
magni. quo in genere arborum cavatores scandentes
in subrectum felium modo, illi vero et supini, percussi
corticis sono pabulum subesse intellegunt. pullos in
cavis educant avium soli, adactos cavernis eorum
a pastore cuneos admota quadam ab iis herba elabi

1 insuper ? Mayhoff : super.

2 ovo ? Mayhoff : de ovo.

3 Hardouin : auspicatis aut auspiciis.

a An unknown "bird.
* The red-headed Black Woodpecker.
6 Repeated XXV 14 and there rejected.
316

BOOK X. xvn. 37-xx. 40

a bird is cited in Nigidius that breaks eagles' eggs.
There are besides a number of kinds described in
Tuscan lore that have not been seen for generations,
though it is surprising that they should have now
become extinct when even kinds that are ravaged
by man's greed continue plentiful.

XVIII. On the subject of the auguries of foreign Foreign
races the writings of an author named Hylas are
deemed to be the most learned. He states that the
night-owl, eagle-owl, woodpecker, trygonaa and
raven come out of the egg tail first, because the eggs

are turned the wrong way up by the weight of the
heads and present the hinder part of the chicks'
bodies to the mother to cherish.

XIX. Night-owls wage a crafty battle against W* night-
other birds. When surrounded by a crowd that out-
numbers them they lie on their backs and defend
themselves with their feet, and bunching themselves

up close are entirely protected by their beak and
claws. Through a kind of natural alliance the hawk
comes to their aid and takes part in the war. Nigidius
relates that night-owls hibernate for 60 days every
winter, and that they have nine cries.

XX. There are also small birds with hooked claws. The wood-
for instance the variety of woodpeckers called Birds pecker*
of Mars & that are important in taking auguries. In

this class are the tree-hollowing woodpeckers that
climb nearly straight upright in the manner of cats,
but also the others that cling upside down, which know
by the sound of the bark when they strike it that
there is fodder underneath it. They are the only
birds that rear their chicks in holes. There is a
common belief0 that when wedges are driven into
their holes by a shepherd the birds by applying a

3*7

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

creditor vulgo. Trebius auctor est clavum cuneumve
adactum quanta libeat vi arbori in qua nidum
habeat statim exilire cum crepitu arboris cum

41 insederit.1 ipsi principales Latio sunt in8 au-
guriis a rege qui nomen huic avi dedit. unum
eontm praescitum transire non queo, in capite
praetoris urbani Aelii Tuber onis in foro iura pro
tribunal! reddentis sedit ita placide ut manu pre-
henderetur. respondere vates exitium imperio por-
tendi si dirnitteretur, at si exanimaretur praetori.
ille autem 2 protinus concerpsit, nee multo post im-
plevit prodigium.

42 XXI. Vescuntur et glande in hoc genere pomisque
multae, sed quae carne tantum, non bibunt,3 excepto
milvOy quod ipsum in auguriis dirum est. uncos
ungues habentes omnino non congregantur, et sibi
quaeque praedantur. sunt autem omnes fere alti-
volae praeter nocturnas, et magis maiores. omnibus
alae grandes, corpus exiguum. ambulant difficulter.
in petris raro consistunt curvatura unguium pro-
hibente.

43 XXIL Nunc de secundo genere dicamus, quod in
duas dividitur species, oscines et alites. illarum
generi cantus oris3 his magnitudo difFerentiam dedit ;
itaque praecedent et ordine, omnesque reliquas in iis

1 Pintianus : insederit clavo aut cuneo.
2 v.L et ille avem. 8 Mayhoff : vivunt.

a Pious, father of Latinus, was changed into a woodpecker
by Circe, whose love he had slighted.
& Viz. digitatae, § 29.

c Oicero N J). EC 160, Div. 1 120 gives the same classification.
The inclusion of the peacock in the latter class shows that the

flighl
318

JLHD JLU.VJLUOAUU LU uuts jjeauuuK in DUO latter ciass snows onat tne
term ales refers rather to display of the wings than to actual
flight; and the inclusion of the cock is justified by pointing

BOOK X. xx. 40-xxn. 43

kind of grass make them slip out again. Trebius
states that if you drive a nail or wedge with as much
force as you like into a tree in which a woodpecker
has a nest, when the bird perches on it it at once
springs out again with a creak of the tree. Wood-
peckers themselves have been of the first importance
among auguries in Latium from the time of the king a
who gave his name to this bird. One presage of
theirs I cannot pass over. When Aelius Tubero,
City Praetor, was giving judgements from the bench
in the forum, a woodpecker perched on his head so
fearlessly that he was able to catch it in his hand.
In reply to enquiry the seers declared that disaster
was portended to the empire if the bird were released,
but to the praetor if it were killed. Tubero however
at once tore the bird in pieces ; and not long after-
wards he fulfilled the portent.

XXI. Many birds in this class feed also on acorns #«&**» °f
and fruit, but those that eat only flesh do not drink, species.
excepting the kite, and for a kite to drink counts in
itself as a direful augury. The birds having talons
never live in flocks, and each hunts for itself. But

they almost all except the night-birds among them
fly high, and the bigger ones higher. All have large
wings and a small body. They walk with difficulty.
They rarely perch on rocks, as the curve of their
talons prohibits this.

XXII. Now let us speak a boutthe second class J, clawed birds
which is divided into two kinds, song-birds and ^l€^or
plumage-birds.c The former kind are distinguished plumage.
by their song and the latter by their size ; so the

latter shall come first in order also, and among them

out that its cantus is proceeded by plaiwtf lcd&mm> and by
reference to its tripudia, §§ 46, 49.

319

PLINY: NATUKAL HISTORY

pavonum genus cum forma turn intellectu eius et
gloria, gemmantes laudatus expandit colores ad-
verso maxime sole, quia sic fulgentius radiant;
simul umbrae quosdam repercussus ceteris, qui et
in opaco clarius micant, conchata quaerit cauda,
omnesque in acervum contrahit pinnarum quos

44 spectari gaudet oculos. idem cauda annuls vicibus
amissa cum foliis arborum, donee rena^catur alia cum
flore, pudibundus ac maerens quaerit latebram.
vivit annis xxv, colores fundere incipit in trimatu.
ab auctoribus non gloriosum tantum animal hoc
traditur, sed et malivolum, sicut anserem verecun-
dum — quoniam has quoque quidam addiderunt notas
in iis, haud probatas mini.

45 XXIII. Pavonem cibi gratia Romae primus occidit
orator Hortensius aditiali cena sacerdotii. saginare
primus instituit circa novissimum piraticum bellum
M. Aufidius Lurco, eoque ex quaestu reditus HS.
sexagena milia habuit.

46 XXIV. Proxime gloriam sentiunt et hi nostri vigiles
nocturni quos excitandis in opera mortalibus rum-
pendoque somno natura genuit. norunt sidera et
ternas distinguunt horas interdiu cantu, cum sole eunt
cubitum, quartaque castrensi vigilia ad curas labor-
emque revocant nee solis ortum incautis patiuntur

a Piracy was put down by Pompey in 67 B.C.
b I.e. the fourth quarter of the night.

320

BOOK X. xxii. 43-xxiv. 46

before all the rest will come the peacock class, both
because of its beauty and because of its consciousness
of and pride in it. When praised it spreads out its
jewelled colours directly facing the sun, because in
that way they gleam more brilliantly; and at the
same time by curving its tail like a shell it contrives
as it were reflexions of shadow for the rest of its
colours, which actually shine more brightly in jthe
dark, and it draws together into a cluster all the eyes
of its feathers, as it delights in having them looked at.
Moreover when it moults its tail feathers every year
with the fall of the leaves, it seeks in shame and
sorrow for a place of concealment until others are
born again with the spring flowers. It lives for 25
years, but it begins to shed its colours at the age of
three. The authorities relate that this creature is
not only ostentatious but also spiteful, just as the
goose is said to be modest — since some writers have
added these characteristics also in that species,
though I do not accept them.

XXIII. The first person at Rome to kill a peacock ^*
for the table was the orator Hortensius, at theffi
inaugural banquet of his priesthood. Fattening
peacocks was first instituted about the time of the
last pirate war ° by Marcus Aufidius Lurco, and he
made 60,000 sesterces profit from this trade.

XXIV. Nearly equally proud and self-conscious are The f am-
also our Roman night-watchmen, a breed designed y

by nature for the purpose of awakening mortals
for their labours and interrupting sleep. They are
skilled astronomers, and they mark every three-
hour period in the daytime with song, go to bed with
the sun, and at the fourth camp-watch b recall us
to our business and our labour and do not allow

321

VOL. III. v

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

obrepere, diemque venientem nuntiant cantu, ipsum

47 vero cantum plausu laterum. imperitant suo generi,
et regnum in quacumque sunt domo exercent. dirni-
catione paritnr hoc inter ipsos, velut ideo tela agnata
cruribus suis intellegentium, nee finis saepe nisi 1
commorientibus. quod si palma contigit,2 statim in
victoria canunt seque ipsi principes testantur;
victus occult atur silens aegreque servitium patitur.
et plebs tamen aeque superba graditur ardua cervice,
cristis celsa, caelumque sola volucrum aspicit crebra,
in sublime caudam quoque falcatam erigens. ita-
que terrori sunt etiam leonibus ferarum generosissi-

48 mis. iam ex ins quidam ad bella tantum et proelia
adsidua nascuntur — quibus etiam patrias nobilitarunt,
Rhodum aut Tanagram ; secundus est honos habitus
Melicis et Chalcidicis, — ut plane dignae aliti tantum

49 honoris perhibeat Romana purpura. horum sunt
tripudia sollistima, M magistratus nostros cotidie
regunt domusque ipsis suas claudunt aut reserant,
hi fasces Romanes inpellunt aut retinent, iubent acies
aut prohibent, victoriarum omnium toto orbe
partarum auspices ; hi maxime terraruna imperio im-
perantj extis etiam fibrisque haut aliter quam opimae
victimae diis gratae. habent ostenta et 3 praeposteri
eorum vespertinique cantus : namque totis noctibus

1 nisi add. edd.

2 Mayhoff: contingit.

3 v.l. ex se et (ex re cognita ? Mayhoff).

0 Omens were taken from the way in which chickens kept
for the purpose ate grain given to them ; it was a good sign
if they ate greedily, letting grain drop on the ground in a
' perfectly regular three-step,' tripudium sottistimum, like the
triple beat of the foot in a ritual dance.

322

BOOK X. xxiv. 46-49

the sunrise to creep upon us unawares, but herald
the coming day with song, while they herald that
song itself with a flapping of their wings against their
sides. They lord it over their own race, and exercise
royal sway in whatever household they live. This
sovereignty they win by duelling with one another,
seeming to understand that weapons grow upon
their legs for this purpose, and often the fight only
ends when they die together. If they win the palm,
they at once sing a song of victory and proclaim
themselves the champions, while the one defeated
hides in silence and with difficulty endures servitude.
Yet even the common herd struts no less proudly,
with uplifted neck and combs held high, and alone of
birds casts frequent glances at the sky, also rearing
its curved tail aloft. Consequently even the lion,
the noblest of wild animals, is afraid of the cock.
Moreover some cocks are born solely for constant
wars and battles — by which they have even con-
ferred fame on their native places, Rhodes or Tana-
gra; the fighting cocks of Melos and Chalcidice
have been awarded second honours — so that the
Roman purple confers its high honour on a bird full
worthy of it. These are the birds that give the
Most-Favourable Omens a ; these birds daily control
our officers of state, and shut or open to them their
own homes; these send forward or hold back the
Roman rods of office, and order or forbid battle
formation, being the auspices of all our victories
won all over the world; these hold supreme empire
over the empire of the world, being as acceptable
to the gods with, even their inward parts and vitals
as are the costliest victims. Even their later
and their evening songs contain portents; for by

323

Y2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

canendo Boeotiis nobilem illam adversus Lacedae-
monios praesagivere victoriam, ita coniecta inter-
pretatione quoniam victa ales ilia non caneret.

50 XXV. Desinunt canere castrati, quod duobus fit
modis, lumbis adustis candente ferro ant imis
cruribus, mox ulcere oblito figlina creta. facilius ita
pinguescunt. Pergami omnibus annis spectaculurn
gallorum publice editur ceu gladiatorum. in-
venitur in annalibus in agro Ariminensi M. Lepido Q.
Catulo coss. in villa Galerii locutum gallinaceum,
semel, quod equidem sciam.

51 XXVI. Est et anseri vigil cura Capitolio testata
defenso, per id tempus canum silentio proditis
rebus, quam ob causam cibaria anserum censores in
primis locant. quin et fama amoris Aegii dilecta
forma pueri nomine Olenii Amphilochi,1 et Glauces
Ptolomaeo regi cithara canentis quam eodem tern-
pore et aries amasse proditur. potest et sapientiae
videri intellectus his esse : ita comes perpetuo adhae-
sisse Lacydi philosopho dicitur, nusquam ab eo,
non in publico non in balineis, non noctu non inter-
din digressus.

52 XXVII. Nostri sapientiores qui eos iecoris bonitate
novere. fartilibus in magnam amplitudinem crescit,

1 Amphilochi add. (ex AeL Hist. An. V 29) Hardouin.

a Leuctra, 371 B.C. : Cicero Div. I 74, H 56 (from Callis-
thenes).

6 78 B.C.

e In 390 B.C., when Home had been taken by the Gauls,
Manlhis the ex-consul was awakened by the cackling of the
geese in the temple of Juno just in time to save the Capitol
from the enemy who were storming it.

324

BOOK X. xxrv. 49-xxvn. 52

crowing all the nights long they presaged to the
Boeotians that famous victory a against the Spartans,
conjecture thus interpreting the sign because this
bird when conquered does not crow.

XXV. Cocks when gelt stop crowing; the opera- ca-
tion is performed in two ways — by searing with ^,
glowing iron either the loins or the bottom parts

of the legs, and then smearing the wound with
potter's clay. This operation makes them easier to
fatten. At Pergamum every year a public show is
given of cocks fighting like gladiators. It is found
in the Annals that in the consulship 6 of Marcus
Lepidus and Quintus Catulus, at the country house
of Galerius in the Rimini district, a farmyard cock
spoke — the only occasion, so far as I know, on which
this has occurred.

XXVI. The goose also keeps a careful watch, as is
evidenced by its defence of the Capitol c during the
time when our fortunes were being betrayed by the
silence of the dogs; for which reason food for
the geese is one of the first contracts arranged by the
censors. Moreover there is the story of the goose
at Aegium that fell in love with the supremely
beautiful boy Amphilochus of Olenus, and also
the goose that loved Glauce, the girl that played
the harp for King Ptolemy, whom at the same time
also a ram is said to have fallen in love with. These
birds may possibly be thought also to possess the
power of understanding wisdom : thus there is a story
that a goose attached itself continually as a companion
to the philosopher Lacydes, never leaving his side
by night or day, either in public or at the baths.

XXVIL Our countrymen are wiser, who know the Foiegr&&
goose by the excellence of its liver. Stuffing the

3*5

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

exemptum quoque lacte mulso augetur. nee sine
causa in quaestione est quis tantum bonum invenerit,
Scipione 1 Metellus vir consularis an Marcus Seius
eadem aetate eques Romanus, sed, quod constat,
Messalinus Cotta, Messalae oratoris filius, palmas
pedum ex iis torrere atque patinis cum gallinaceorum
cristis condire reperit; tribuetur enim a me culinis
53 cuiusque palma cum fide, minim in hac alite a
Morinis usque Romam pedibus venire: fessi
proferuntur ad primes, ita ceteri stipatione naturali
propellunt eos.

Candidorum alterum vectigal in pluma. velluntur
quibusdam locis bis anno, rursus plumigeri vestiun-
tur. mollior quae corpora proxima, et e Germania
laudatissima. candidi ibi, verum minores; gantae

54 vocantur; pretium plumae eorum in libras denarii
quini. et inde crimina plerumque auxilionun prae-
fectis a vigili statione ad haec aucupia dimissis
cohortibus totis; eoque deliciae processere ut sine
hoc stramento2 durare iam ne virorum quidem
cervices possint.

55 XXVIIL Aliud repperit Syriae pars quae Com-
magene vocatur, adipem eorum in vase aereo cum

1 v.L Scipio. 2 Dalec. : instrumento.

326

BOOK X. xxvii. 52-xxviii. 55

bird with food makes the liver grow to a great
size, and also when it has been removed it is made
larger by being soaked in milk sweetened with
honey. Not without reason is it a matter of enquiry
who was the discoverer of so great a boon — was it
Scipio Metellus the consular, or his contemporary
Marcus Seius, Knight of Rome ? But it is an accepted
fact that Messalinus Cotta, son of the prator Messala,
invented the recipe for taking from geese the soles
of the feet and grilling them and pickling them
in dishes with the combs of domestic cocks; for I
will award the palm scrupulously to each man's
culinary achievement. A remarkable feat in the
case of this bird is its coming on foot all the way to
Rome from the Morini in Gaul : the geese that get
tired are advanced to the front rank, and so all the
rest drive them on by instinctively pressing forward
in their rear.

White geese yield a second profit in their feathers.
In some places they are plucked twice a year, and
clothe themselves again with a feather coat. The
plumage closest to the body is softer, and that
from Germany is most esteemed. The geese there
are a bright white, but smaller ; the German word
for this bird is Gans ; the price of their feathers is five-
pence per pound. And owing to this officers in
command of auxiliary troops frequently get into
trouble for having sent whole cohorts away from
outpost sentry duty to capture these fowls; and
luxury has advanced to such a pitch that now not
even the male neck can endure to be without goose-
feather bedding.

XXVIIL The part of Syria called Commagene

. - i r -r. /» , • T -J.-L

has made another discovery, goose-fat mixed witn

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cinnamo nive multa obrutum ac rigore gelido macera-
tum ad usum praeclari medicaminis quod ab gente
dicitur Commagenum.

56 XXIX. Anserini1 generis sunt chenalopeces et>
quibus lautiores epulas non novit Britannia, chene-
rotes, fere ansere minores. decet et tetraonas suns
nitor absolutaque nigritia, in superciliis cocci rubor.
alterum eoram genus vulturum magnitudinem
excedit quorum et colorem reddit, nee ulla ales
excepto struthocamelo maius corpore implens pondus,
in tantum aucta ut in terra quoque immobilis pre-
hendatur. gignunt eos Alpes et septentrionalis
regio. in vivariis saporem perdunt, moriuntur

57 contumacia spiritu revocato. proximae iis sunt
quas Hispania aves tardas appellat, Graecia on-iSas?
damnatas in cibis; emissa enim ossibus medulla
odoris taedium extemplo sequitur.

58 XXX. Indutias habet gens Pygmaea abscessu
gruum, ut diximus, cum iis dimicantiurn. inmensus
est tractus quo veniunt, si quis reputet, a mari Eoo.
quando proficiscantur consentiunt, volant ad pro-
spiciendum alte, ducem quem sequantur eligunt, in
extremo agmine per vices qui adclament dispositos

59 habent et qui gregem voce contineant. excubias
habent nocturnis temporibus lapillum pede sustin-
entes, qui laxatus somno et decidens indiligentiam

1 Gelen : anseris.

a ' Birds with ears,' the bustard.
* VI 70, VII 26 ff.
328

BOOK X. xxvin. 55-xxx. 59

cinnamon in a bronze bowl, covered with a quantity
of snow and steeped in the icy mixture, to supply
the famous medicine that is called after the tribe
Cormnagemim.

XXIX. To the goose kind belong the sheldrake and varieties of
the barnacle-goose, the latter the most sumptuous H^T^
feast that Britain knows; both are rather smaller

than the goose. The black grouse also makes a
fine show with its gloss and its absolute blackness,
with a touch of bright scarlet above the eyes.
Another variety of these exceeds the size of vultures
and also reproduces their colour, nor is there any
bird except the ostrich that attains a greater weight
of body, growing to such, a size that it is actually
caught motionless on the ground. They are a product
of the Alps and the northern region. When kept
in fishponds they lose their flavour, and obstinately
hold their breath till they die. Next to these are
the birds that Spain calls tardae and Greece
otidesf which are condemned as an article of diet,
because when the marrow is drained out of their
bones a disgusting smell at once follows.

XXX. The race of Pygmies have a cessation of The crane—
hostilities on the departure of the cranes that, a£ a

we have said,& carry on war with them. It is a vast
distance, if one calculates it, over which they come
from the eastern sea. They agree together when to
start, and they fly high so as to see their route in
front of them ; they choose a leader to follow, and
have some of their number stationed in turns at the
end of the line to shout orders and keep the flock
together with their cries* At night time they have
sentries who hold a stone in their claws, which if
drowsiness makes them drop it falls and convicts

329

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

coarguat: ceterae dormiunt capite subter alam
condito alternis pedibus insistentes; dux erecto

CO providet collo ac praedicit. (eaedem mansuefactae
lasciviunt, gyrosque quosdam in decoro1 cursu
vel singulae peragunt.2) certum est Pontum trans-
volaturas primuin omnium angustias petere inter
duo promunturia Criumetopon et Carambim, mox
saburra stabiliri; cum medium transierint, abici
lapillos e pedibus, cum attigerint continentem, et e
gutture harenam. Cornelius Nepos, qui divi Au-
gusti principatu obiit, cum scriberet turdos paulo
ante coeptos saginari, addidit ciconias magis placere
quam grues, cum haec nunc ales inter primas expeta-
tur, illam nemo velit attigisse.

61 XXXI. Ciconiae quonam e loco veniant aut quo
se referant incompertum adhuc est. e longinquo
venire non dubium eodem quo grues modo, illas
hiemiSj has aestatis advenas. abiturae congregantur
in loca certa, comitataeque sic ut nulla generis sui
relinquatur (nisi captiva et serva) ceu lege praedicta
die recedunt. nemo vidit agmen discedentium,
cum discessurum appareat, nee venire sed venisse
cernimus; utrumque nocturnis fit temporibus, et

1 indecoro ed&.> <kaTid> indecoro ? Mayhoff.

2 eaedem . . . peragunt infra post attigisse tr. UrlicTis.

This sentence seems to belong to the end of § 60.
At the end of the Tauric Chersonese.

BOOK X. xxx. 59-xxxi. 61

them of slackness, while the rest sleep with their
head tucked under their wing, standing on either
foot by turns ; but the leader keeps a lookout with
neck erect and gives warning. (The same birds
when tamed are fond of play, and execute certain
circles in a graceful swoop, even one bird at a
time a). It is certain that when they are going to
fly across the Black Sea they first of all make for the
straits between the two promontories of Ramsbrow b
and Cararnbis, and proceed to ballast themselves
with sand; and that when they have crossed the
middle of the sea they throw away the pebbles out
of their claws and, when they have reached the
mainland, the sand out of their throats as well.
Cornelius Nepos, who died in the principate of the The crane
late lamented Augustus, when he wrote that the/flflft*teMfc
practice of fattening thrushes was introduced a little
before his time, added that storks were more in
favour than cranes, although the latter bird is now
one of those most in request, whereas nobody will
touch the former.

XXXI. Where exactly storks come from or where The stork—
they go to has not hitherto been ascertained. There JJ^*1*"
is no doubt that they come from a distance, in the
same manner as do cranes, the former being winter
visitors and the latter arriving in summer. When
about to depart they assemble at fixed places, and
forming a company, so as to prevent any of their
class being left behind (unless one captured and in
slavery), they withdraw as if at a date fixed in advance
by law. No one has seen a band of storks departing,
although it is quite clear that they are going to depart,
nor do we see them arrive, but only see that they have
arrived; both arrival and departure take place in

33*

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quamvis ultra citrave pervolent, numquam tamen

62 advenisse usquam nisi noctu existimantur. Pytho-
nos Comen vocant in Asia patentibus campis ubi
congregatae inter se conmurmurant, eamque quae
novissima advenit lacerant, atque ita abeunt;
notatum post idus Augustas non temere visas ibi.
sunt qui ciconiis non inesse linguam confirment.
honos iis serpentium exitio tantus ut in Thessalia
capital fuerit occidisse eademque legibus poena
quae in homicidam.

63 XXXII. Simili anseres quoque et olores ratione
connneant, sed horum volatus cernitur. Liburni-
carum more rostrato impetu feruntur, facilius ita
fmdentes aera quam si recta fronte inpellerent;
a tergo sensim dilatante se cuneo porrigitur agmen
largeque inpellenti praebetur aurae. colla inponunt
praecedentibus, fessos duces ad terga recipiunt.
(ciconiae nidos eosdem repetunt. genetricum
senectam invicem educant.)1 olorum morte narratur
flebilis cantus, falso, ut arbitror aliquot experiments,
idem mutua carne vescuntur inter se.

64 XXXIII. Verum haec commeantium per maria
terrasque peregrinatio non patitur differri minores
quoque quibus est natura similis. utcumque enim
supra dictas magnitude et vires corporum invitare

65 videri possint, coturnices ante etiam semper adveniunt

1 ciconiae . . . educant supra post visas ibi § 62 tr. ?
Mayhoff.

* This passage seems to belong to § 62 mid.
& The story is true of the Whooper Swan but not of the
ordinary Mute Swan.

332

BOOK X. xxxi. 61-xxxni. 65

the night-time, and although they fly to and fro
across the country, it is thought that they have never
arrived anywhere except by night. There is a place
in Asia called Snakesdorp with a wide expanse of
plains where cranes meet in assembly to hold a
palaver, and the one that arrives last they set upon
with their claws, and so they depart; it has been
noticed that they have not frequently been seen there
after the first fortnight of August. Some persons
declare that storks have no tongue. They are held
in such high esteem for destroying snakes that in
Thessaly to kill them was a capital crime, for which
the legal penalty was the same as for homicide.

XXXII. Geese and swans also migrate on a similar other
principle, but the flight of these is seen. They travel &£%!£'
in a pointed formation like fast galleys, so cleaving

the air more easily than if they drove at it with a
straight front ; while in the rear the flight stretches
out in a gradually widening wedge, and presents a
broad surface to the drive of a following breeze. They
place then; necks on the birds in front of them,
and when the leaders are tired they receive them
to the rear. (Storks return to the same nest.
They nourish their parents' old age in their turn.) a
A story is told about the mournful song of swans at
their death — a false story as I judge on the strength
of a certain number of experiences.6 Swans are
cannibals, and eat one another's flesh.

XXXIII. But this migration of birds of passage Smaller
over seas and lands cloes not allow us to postpone

the smaller breeds as well that have a similar nature. t
For however much the size and strength of body of
the kinds above mentioned may appear to invite
them to travel, the quails always actually arrive

333

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quam grues, parva avis et cum ad nos venit terrestris
potius quam sublimis ; advolant et hae simili modo,
non sine periculo navigantium cum adpropinquavere
terris: quippe veils saepe insidunt,1 et hoc semper

66 noctu, merguntque navigia. iter est iis per hospitia
certa. austro non volant, umido scilicet et graviore
vento; aura tamen vehi volunt propter pondus
corporum viresque parvas (hinc volantium ilia con-
questio labore expressa) ; aquilone ergo maxime
volant ortygometra duce. primam earum terrae
adpropinquantem accipiter rapit; semper hinc re-
meantes comitatum sollicitant, abeuntque una

67 persuasae glottis et otus et cychramus. glottis
praelongam exerit linguam, unde ei nomen. hanc
inifcio blandita peregrinatione avide provectam
paenitentia in volatu cum labore scilicet subit:
reverti incomitatam piget, et sequi, nee umquam
plus uno die, pergit — in proximo hospitio deserit.
verum invenitur alia, antecedente anno relicta

66 simili modo, in singulos dies, cychramus persever-
antior festinat etiam pervenire ad expetitas sibi
terras; itaque noctu2 eas excitat admonetque
itineris. otus bubone minor est, noctuis maior,

1 Caesarius : incident Mayhoff.

2 Mayhoff i noctuis.

0 Unfoicwn.

* This identification is uncertain.

334

BOOK X. xxxm. 65-68

before the cranes, though the quail is a small bird
and when it has come to us remains on the ground
more than it soars aloft ; but they too get here by
flying in the same way as the cranes, not without
danger to seafarers when they have come near to
land: for they often perch on the sails, and they
always do this at night, and sink the vessels. Their
route follows definite resting places. They do not
fly in a south wind, doubtless because it is damp
and rather heavy, yet they desire to be carried by
the breeze, because of the weight of their bodies
and their small strength (this is the reason for that
mournful cry they give while flying, which is wrung
from them by fatigue); consequently they fly
mostly in a north wind, a landrail leading the way.
The first quail approaching land is seized by a hawk ;
1 from the place where this happens they always
return and try to get an escort, and the tongue-
bird^ eared owl and ortolan5 are persuaded to make
the journey with them. The tongue-bird takes its
name from the very long tongue that it puts out of
its beak. At the start the charm of travelling
lures this bird to sail on eagerly, but in the course
of the flight repentance comes to it, no doubt with
the fatigue ; but it does not like to return unaccom-
panied, and it goes on following, though never
for more than one day — at the next resting place it
deserts. But day after day the company find another
one, left behind in a similar manner the year before.
The ortolan is more persevering, and hurries on
actually to complete the journey to the lands which
they are seeking ; consequently it rouses up the birds
in the night and reminds them of their journey.
The eared owl is smaller than the eagle-owl and

335

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

auribus plumeis eminentibus, unde et nomen illi —
quidam Latine axionem vocant; imitatrix alias
avis ac parasita et quodam genere saltatrix. capitur
haut difficulter ut noctuae, intentam in aliquem

69 circumeunte alio. quod si ventus agmen adverse
fiatu coepit inhibere, pondusculis lapidum adpre-
hensis aut gutture harena repleto stabilitae volant,
coturnicibus veneni semen gratissimus cibus, quam
ob causam eas damnavere mensae; simulque
comitialem propter morbum despui suetum, quern
solae animalium sentiunt praeter hominem.

70 XXXIV. Abeunt et hirundines hibernis mensibus,
sola carne vescens avis ex iis quae aduncos ungues
non habent; sed in vicina abeunt apricos secutae
montium recessus, inventaeque iam sunt ibi nudae
atque deplumes. Thebarum tecta subire negantur,
quoniam urbs ilia saepius capta sit, nee Bizyes in

71 Threcia propter scelera Terei. Caecina Volaterranus
equestris ordinis quadrigarum dominus conprehensas
in urbem secum auferens victoriae nuntias amicis
mittebat in eundem nidum remeantes inlito victoriae
colore. tradit et Fabius Pictor in annalibus suis,
cum obsideretur praesidium Romanum a Ligustinis
hirundmem a pullis ad se adlatam, ut lino ad pedem

0 Swallows eat insects.
336

BOOK X. xxxin. 68-xxxiv. 71

larger than night-owls; it has projecting feathery
ears, whence its name — some give it the Latin name
' axio ' ; moreover it is a bird that copies other
kinds and is a hanger-on, and it performs a kind of
dance. Like the night-owl it is caught without
difficulty if one goes round it while its attention is
fixed on somebody else. If a wind blowing against
them begins to hold up a flight of these birds, they
pick up little stones as ballast or fill their throat with
sand to steady their flight. Quails are very fond of
eating poison seed, on account of which our tables
have condemned them ; and moreover it is customary
to spit at the sight of them as a charm against
epilepsy, to which they are the only living creatures
that are liable besides man.

XXXIV. Swallows, the only flesh-eating0 bird ^j^fjf"
among those that have not hooked talons, also use for
migrate in the winter months ; but they only retire messa^es-
to places near at hand, making for the sunny gulleys
in the mountains, and they have before now been
found there moulted and bare of feathers. It is
said that they do not enter under the roofs of Thebes,
because that city has been so often captured, nor at
Bizye in Thrace on account of the crimes of Tereus.
A man of knightly rank at Volterra, Caecina, who
owned a racing four-in-hand, used to catch swallows
and take them with him to Rome and despatch
them to take the news of a win to his friends, as they
returned to the same nest; they had the winning
colour painted on them. Also Fabius Pictor
records in his Annals that when a Roman garrison
was besieged by the Ligurians a swallow taken from
her nestlings was brought to him for him to indicate
by knots made in a thread tied to its foot how

337

VOL. III. Z

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cms adligato nodis significaret quoto die adveniente
auxilio eruptio fieri deberet.

72 XXXV. Abeunt et merulae turdique et sturni
simili modo in vicina ; sed hi plumam non amittunt,
nee occultantur, visi saepe ibi quo hibernum pabulum
petunt. itaque in Germania hieme maxima turdi
cernuntur. verius turtur occultatur, pinnasque
amittit. abeunt et palumbes; quonam et in his

73 incertum. sturnorum generi proprium catervatim
volare et quodam pilae orbe circumagi omnibus in
medium agmen tendentibus. volucrum soli hirun-
dini flexuosi volatus velox celeritas, quibus ex causis
neque rapinae ceterarum alitum obnoxia est. ea-
dem * sola avium nonnisi in volatu pascitur.

XXXVI. Temporum magna differentia avibus :
perennes, ut columbae, semenstres, ut hirundines,
trimenstres, ut turdi, turtur es et quae cum fetum
eduxere abeunt, ut galguli, upupae.

74 XXXVII. Auctores sunt omnibus annis advolare
Ilium ex Aethiopia aves et confligere ad Memnonis
tumulum, quas ob id Memnonidas vocant. hoc idem
quinto quoque anno facere eas in Aethiopia circa
regiam Memnonis exploratum sibi Cremutius tradit.

XXXVIII. Simili modo pugnant meleagrides in
Boeotia ; Africae hoc est gallinarum genus gibberum,

1 Mayhoff : ea demum,
0 Guinea-hens.

338

BOOK X. xxxiv. 7i-xxxviii. 74

many days later help would arrive and a sortie must
be made.

XXXV. Blackbirds, thrushes and starlings also other
migrate in a similar way to neighbouring districts ; miffrants'
but these do not moult their plumage, and do not

go into hiding, being often seen in the places where
they forage for winter food. Consequently in Ger-
many thrushes are most often seen in winter. The
turtle-dove goes into hiding in a truer sense3 and
moults its feathers. Wood-pigeons also go into re-
treat, though in their case also it is not certain exactly
where. It is a peculiarity of the starling kind that
they fly in flocks and wheel round in a sort of circular
ball, all making towards the centre of the flock.
The swallow is the only bird that has an extremely
swift and swerving flight, owing to which it is also
not liable to capture by the other kinds of birds.
Also the swallow is the only bird that only feeds
when on the wing.

XXXVI. There is a great difference in the seasons
of birds ; some stay all the year round, e.g. pigeons,
some for six months, e.g. swallows, some for three
months, e.g. thrushes and turtle-doves and those
that migrate when they have reared their brood,
such as woodpeckers and hoopoes.

XXXVII. Some authorities state that every year A^
birds fly from Ethiopia to Troy and have a fight
at Memnon's tomb, and consequently they call them

* Memnon's daughters/ Cremutius records having
discovered that every four years they do the same
things in Ethiopia round the royal palace of Memnon.

XXXVIII. The meleagrides" in Boeotia fight in a *•*»»•
similar manner; this is a kind of hen belonging to
Africa, hump-backed and with speckled plumage.

339
z2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

variis sparsum plumis. quae novissimae sunt pere-
grinarum avium in mensas receptae propter ingratum
virus ; verum Meleagri tumulus nobiles eas fecit.

75 XXXIX. Seleucides aves vocantur quarum adven-
tum ab love precibus inpetrant Cadmi montis incolae
fruges eorum locustis vastantibus ; nee unde veniant
quove abeant compertum, numquam conspectis nisi
cum praesidio earum indigetur. XL. invocant et
Aegyptii ibis suas contra serpentium adventum, et
Elei Myiacoren deum muscarum multitudine pesti-
lentiam adferente, quae protinus intereunt quam
litatum est ei deo.

76 XLL Sed in secessu avium et noctuae paucis
diebus latere traduntur; quarum genus in Greta
insula non esse,1 etiam, si qua invecta sit, emori.
nam haec quoque mira naturae differentia : alia aliis
locis negat, tamquam genera frugum fruticumve
sic et animalium. non nasci tralaticium, invecta
emori mirum. quod2 illud est unius generis saluti
adversum, quaeve ista naturae invidia ? aut qui terra-

77 rum dicti avibus termini? Rhodes aquilam non
habet; Transpadana Italia iuxta Alpes Larium
lacum appellat amoenum arbusto agro ad quern
ciconiae non permeant, sicuti nee octavum citra
lapidem ab eo inmensa alioqui iinitimo Insubrum

1 Maytoffi est. 2 v.L quid.

340

BOOK X. xxxvni. 74~xLi. 77

This is the latest of the migratory birds admitted to
the menu, because of its unpleasant pungent flavour ;
but the Tomb of Meleager has made it famous.
XXXIX. There is a species called birds of Seleucis other

» i . i r rf> i , Y . , , rmgrants.

for whose arrival prayers are offered to Jupiter by the
inhabitants of Mount Cadmus when locusts destroy
their crops ; it is not known where they come from,
nor where they go to when they depart, and they
are never seen except when their protection is needed.
XL. Also the people of Egypt invoke their ibis to
guard against the arrival of snakes, and those of
Elis invoke the god Myiacores when a swarm of
flies brings plague, the flies dying as soon as a sacrifice
to this god has been performed.

XLI. But in the matter of the withdrawal of birds, ^ night-
it is stated that even night-owls go into retreat for £-t&«?m
a few days. It is said that this kind does not exist of species.
in the island of Crete and even that if one is im-
ported there it dies off. For this also is a remarkable
point of variety established by nature: to various
places she denies various species of animals as well
as of crops and shrubs. For those animals not to be
born there is in the ordinary course of things, but
their dying off when imported there is remarkable.
What is the factor adverse to the health of a single
genus that is involved, or what is the jealousy of
nature that is indicated? Or what frontiers are
prescribed for birds ? Rhodes does not possess the
eagle; Italy north of the Po gives the name of
Como to a lake near the Alps graced with a
wooded tract to which storks do not come; and
similarly jays and jackdaws — a bird whose unique
fondness for stealing especially silver and gold is
remarkable — though swarming in enormous numbers

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tractu examina graculorum monedularumque (cui soli
avi furacitas argenti aurique praecipue mira est).
picus Martius in Tarentino agro negatur esse.

78 nuper et adhuc tamen rara ab Appennino ad urbem
versus cerni coepere picarum genera quae longa
insignes cauda variae appellantur; proprium his
calvescere omnibus annis cum seritur rapa. perdices
non trans volant Boeotiae fines in Atticam,1 nee ulla
avis in Ponti insula qua sepultus est Achilles sacratam
ei aedem. in Fidenate agro iuxta urbem ciconiae nee
pullos nee nidum faciunt. at in agruna Volaterranum

79 palumbium vis e mari quotannis advolat. Romae in
aedem Herculis in foro Boario nee muscae nee canes
intrant, multa praeterea similia, quae prudens subinde
omitto in singulis generibus, fastidio parcens, quippe
cum Theophrastus tradat invecticias esse in Asia etiam
columbas et pavones et corvos 2 et in Cyrenaica
vocales ranas.

80 XLII. Alia admiratio circa oscines : fere mutant
colorem vocemque tempore anni, ac repente fiunt
aliae, quod in grandiore alitum genere grues tantum :
hae enim senectute nigrescunt. merula ex nigra
rufescit; canit aestate, hieme balbutit, circa solsti-
tium muta ; rostrum quoque anniculis in ebur trans-
figuratur, dumtaxat maribus. turdis colos aestate
circa cervicem varius, hieme concoloribus.3

1 Gfesner : Attica. z v.l. cervos.

8 Mayhoff: coneolor.

a Leuce.
342

BOOK X. XLI. 77-xLii. 80

in the adjacent region of the Insubrians, do not
come within eight miles of Lake Como. It is
said that Mars's woodpecker is not found in the
district of Taranto . ' The kinds of pie called chequered
pies and distinguished for their long tail, though
hitherto rare, have lately begun to be seen between
the Apennines and Rome ; this bird has the peculiarity
of moulting its feathers yearly at the time when the
turnip is sown. Partridges do not fly across the
frontier of Boeotia into Attica; nor does any bird
fly across the temple dedicated to Achilles on the
island a of the Black Sea where he is buried. In
the district of Fidenae near Rome storks do not
hatch chicks or make nests. But a quantity of
pigeons every year fly from the sea to the district
of Volterra. Neither flies nor dogs enter the temple
of Hercules in the Cattle-market at Rome, There
are many similar facts besides, which I am continually
careful to omit in my account of the several kinds,
to avoid being wearisome — for example Theophrastus
states that even pigeons and peacocks and ravens
are not indigenous in Asia, nor croaking frogs in
Cyrenaica.

XLIL There is another remarkable fact about
song-birds; they usually change their colour
and note with the season, and suddenly become
different — which among the larger class of birds
only cranes do, for these grow black in old age.
The blackbird changes from black to red; and it
sings in the summer, and chirps in winter, but at
midsummer is silent; also the beak of yearling
blackbirds, at all events the cocks, is turned to ivory
colour. Thrushes are of a speckled colour round the
neck in summer but self-coloured in winter.

343

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

81 XLIII. Luscinis diebus ac noctibus continuis xv
garrulus sine intermissu cantus densante se frondium
gemxine, non in novissimis x digna miratu ave.
primmn tanta vox tarn parvo in corpusculo, tam
pertinax spiritus ; deinde in una perfecta musicae 2
scientia: modulatus editur sonus, et mine continue
spiritu trahitur in longum, nunc variatur inflexo,
nunc* distinguitur concise, copulatur intorto, pro-

82 mittitur revocato ; infuscatur ex inopinato, interdum
et secum ipse murmurat, plenus,3 gravis, acutus,
creber, extentus, ubi visum est vibrans — summus,
medius, imus ; breviterque omnia tam parvulis in
faueibus quae tot exquisitis tibiarum tormentis ars
hominum excogitavit, ut non 4 sit dubium hanc
suavitatem praemonstratam efficaci auspicio cum in
ore Stesichori cecinit infantis. ac ne quis dubitet
artis esse, plures singulis sunt cantus, nee iidem

83 omnibus, sed sui cuique. certant inter se, palamque
animosa contentio est; victa morte finit saepe
vitam, spiritu prius deficiente quam cantu. medi-
tantur aliae iuveniores versusque quos imitentur
acciphmt; audit discipula intentione magna et
reddit, vicibusque reticent; intellegitur emendatae
correctio 5 et in docente quaedam reprehensio.

84 ergo servorum illis pretia sunt, et quidem ampliora

1 edd. : novissimum. 2 v.L musica.

3 plenus <inanis> ? Rackham. 4 non ut Mayhoff*

5 edd* : correptio.

0 Some antithesis to plynMS seems to have been lost in the
Latin text.

b Famous Sicilian Greek poet, 632-552 B.C., on whose lips
in infancy a nightingale perched and sang.

344

BOOK X. XLIII. 81-84
XLIII. Nightingales pour out a ceaseless gush

of the leaves are swelling — a bird not in the lowest variety of
rank remarkable. In the first place there is so loud tt*song'
a voice and so persistent a supply of breath in such
a tiny little body; then there is the consummate
knowledge of music in a single bird : the sound is
given out with modulations, and now is drawn out
into a long note with one continuous breath, now
varied by managing the breath, now made staccato
by checking it, or linked together by prolonging
it, or carried on by holding it back ; or it is suddenly
lowered, and at times sinks into a mere murmur, loud,
low,a bass, treble, with trills, with long notes, modu-
lated when this seems good — soprano, mezzo, bari-
tone ; and briefly all the devices in that tiny throat
which human science has devised with all the elabor-
ate mechanism of the flute, so that there can be no
doubt that this sweetness was foretold by a con-
vincing omen when it made music on the lips of the
infant Stesichorus.& And that no one may doubt
its being a matter of science, the birds have several
songs each, and not all the same but every bird songs
of its own. They compete with one another, and
there is clearly an animated rivalry between them;
the loser often ends her life by dying, her breath
giving out before her song. Other younger birds
practise their music, and are given verses to imitate ;
the pupil listens with close attention and repeats
the phrase, arid the two keep silence by turns: we
notice improvement in the one under instruction
and a sort of criticism on the part of the instructress.
Consequently they fetch the prices that are given Trade m
for slaves, and indeed larger prices than were

345

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quam quibus olim armigeri parabantur. scio HS.
vi candidam alioquin, quod est prope invisitatum,1
venisse quae Agrippinae Claudii principis coniugi
dono daretur. visum iam saepe iussas canere
coepisse et cum symphonia alternasse, sicut homines
repertos qui sonum earum addita in transversas
harundines aqua foramina 2 inspirantes linguave 3
parva aliqua opposita mora indiscreta redder ent

85 similitudine. sed hae tantae tamque artifices
argutiae a xv diebus paulatim desinunt — nee ut
fatigatas possis dicere aut satiatas ; mox aestu aucto
in totum alia vox fit, nee modulata aut varia. muta-
tur et color, postremo hieme ipsa non cernitur.
linguis earum tenuitas ilia prima non est quae
ceteris avibus. pariunt vere primo cum plurimum
sena ova.

86 XLIV. Alia ratio ficedulis, nam formam simul
coloremque mutant; hoc nomen autumno habent,
postea melancoryphi vocantur. sic et eritnacus
hieme, idem phoenicurus aestate. mutat et upupa,
ut tradit Aeschylus poeta, obscena alias pastu avis,
crista visenda plicatili contrahens earn subrigensque
per longitudinem capitis.

87 XLV. Oenanthe quidem etiam states latebrae dies
habet: exoriente sirio occultata ab occasu eiusdem

1 v.l. innsitatam (of. § 132). 2 Rackham : foramen.

3 v.l. linguaeve.

a Kr. quoted Ar. Hist. An. 633a 19.
346

BOOK X. mil. 84-xLv. 87

for armour-bearers in old days. I know of one bird,
a white one it is true, which is nearly unprecedented,
that was sold for 600,000 sesterces to be given as a
present to the emperor Claudius's consort Agrippina.
Frequent cases have been seen before now of nightin-
gales that have begun to sing when ordered, and have
sung in answer to an organ, as there have been found
persons who could reproduce the birds' song with an
indistinguishable resemblance by putting water into
slanting reeds and breathing into the holes or by
applying some slight check with the tongue. But
these exceptional and artistic trills after a fortnight
gradually cease, though not in such a way that
the birds could be said to be tired out or to have
had enough of singing ; and later on when the heat
has increased their note becomes entirely different,
with no modulations or variations. Their colour
also changes, and finally in winter the bird itself is
not seen. Their tongues do not end in a point like
those of all other birds. They lay in early spring,
six eggs at most.

XLIV. It is otherwise with the fig-pecker, as it
changes its shape and colour at the same tim
it has this name in the autumn, but afterwards
called the blackcap. Similarly also the bird known plumage, or
as erithacus in winter is called redstart in summer.
The hoopoe also changes its appearance, as the poet
Aeschylus a records; it is moreover a foul-feeding
bird, noticeable for its flexible crest, which it draws
together and raises up along the whole length of
its head.

XLV. The wheatear indeed actually has fixed days
of retirement : it goes into hiding at the rising of the
dogstar and comes out after its setting, doing both

34?

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

prodit, quod miremur, ipsis diebus utrumque.
chlorion quoque, qui totus est luteus, hieme non
visus, circa solstitia procedit. merulae circa Cylle-
nen Arcadiae nee usquam aliubi candidae nascuntur.
ibis circa Pelusium tantum nigra est, ceteris omnibus
locis Candida.

88 XLVI. Oscines praeter exceptas non temere fetus
faciunt ante aequinoctium vernum aut post autumn-
ale, ante solstitium autem dubios, post solstitium
vitales.

89 XLVII. Eo maxime sunt insignes halcyones:
dies earum partus maria quique *• navigant nove're.
ipsa avis paulo amplior passere, colore cyanea et
parte inferiore 2 tantum purpurea, candidis admixta
pinnis collo, gracili ac procero rostro.3 alterum
genus earum magnitudine distinguitur et cantu;

90 minores in harundinetis canunt. halcyonem videre
rarissimum est, nee nisi vergiliarum occasu et circa
solstitia brumamve, nave aliquando circumvolata
statim in latebras abeuntem. fetificant bruma,
qui dies halcyonides vocantur, placido mari per eos et
navigabili, Siculo maxime. faciunt autem septem
ante brumam diebus nidos, et totidem sequentibus

91 pariunt. nidi earum admirationem habent pilae
ftgura paulum eminenti ore perquam angusto,
grandium spongearum similitudine ; ferro intercidi
non queunt, franguntur ictu valido, ut spuma arida

2 Mayhoff : eyanea ex parfce maiore aut alia.

3 rostro add. ex Aristotde Mayhoff.

a Tliis larger variety is the Pied Kingfisher.
* About the beginning of November.

348

BOOK X. XLV. Sy-xLvn. 91

on the actual days, which is surprising. Also the
golden oriole, which is yellow all over, is not seen
in winter but comes out about midsummer. Black-
birds are born white at Cyllene in Arcadia, but
nowhere else. The ibis is black ,only in the neigh-
bourhood of Pelusium, being white in all other
places.

XLVI. Songbirds apart from some exceptions do Breeding
not ordinarily breed before the spring equinox or °fsong~ l *
after the autumn one; and their eggs laid before
midsummer are doubtful, but those after midsummer
are fertile.

XLVII. Kingfishers are especially remarkable TheMw-
for this : the seas and those who sail them know the Basons %wd
days when they breed. The bird itself is a little ham-
larger than a sparrow, sea-blue in colour and reddish
only on the underside, blended with white feathers
in the neck, with a long slender beak.a There is
another kind of kingfisher different in size and note ;
this smaller kind sings in beds of rushes. A king-
fisher is very rarely seen, and only at the setting b
of the Pleiads and about midsummer and midwinter,
when it occasionally flies round a ship and at once
goes away to its retreat. They breed at midwinter,
on what are called * the kingfisher days/ during which
the sea is calm and navigable, especially in the
neighbourhood of Sicily. They make their nests
a week before the shortest day, and lay a week after
it. Their nests are admired for their shape, that
of a ball slightly projecting with a very narrow
mouth, resembling very large sponges;0 they cannot
be cut with a knife, but break at a strong blow, like

c The so-called nests on which this story is based are clearly
a kind of sponge.

349

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

maris ; nee unde confingantur invenitur : putant ex
spinis aculeatis,1 piscibus enim vivunt. subeunt et
in amnes. pariunt ova quina.

XLVIII. Gaviae in petris nidificant, mergi et in
arboribus. pariunt cum 2 plurimum terna, sed gaviae
aestate, mergi incipient e vere.

92 XLIX. Haley onum nidi figura reliquamm quoque
sollertiae admonet ; neque alia parte ingenia avium
magis admiranda sunt. hirundines luto construunt,
stramento roborant ; si quando inopia est luti,
madefactis multa aqua pinnis pulverem spargunt.
ipsum vero nidum mollibus plumis floccisque con-
sternunt tepefaciendis ovis, simul ne durus sit
infantibus pullis. in fetum3 summa aequitate
alternant cibum. notabili munditia egerunt excre-
menta pullorum, adultioresque circumagi docent

93 et foris saturitatem emittere. alterum est hirun-
dinum genus rusticarum et agrestium quae raro in
domibus diversos figura sed eadem materia confingunt
Taidos, totos supinos, faucibus porrectis in angustum,
utero capaci, mirum qua peritia et occultandis

94 habiles pullis et substernencQs molles. in Aegypti
Heracleotico ostio molem continuatione nidorum
evaganti Nilci inexpugnabilem opponunt stadii fere
unius spatiOj quod humano opere perfici non posset.

1 acularum (c/.XXXII 11 belonae, quos aculas vocamus
Qronovius,

2 cum add. ? Mayhoff.

3 Rackham cdl. Tac. Ann. II. 67 : fetu.

350

a I.e. the jSeAovT?, Ar. Hist. An. 616a32, garfish.
5 J.e. cormorants.
* Our honae-martin.

BOOK X. XLVII. QI-XLIX. 94

dry sea-foam ; and it cannot be discovered of what
they are constructed : people think they are made
out of the spines of fishes' a prickles, for the birds
live on fish. They also go up rivers. They lay five
eggs at a time.

XLVIII. Gulls nest on rocks, divers6 also m
trees. They lay at most three eggs at a time, sea-
mews laying in summer and divers at" the beginning
of spring.

XLIX. The conformation of the kingfisher's nest
reminds one of the skill of all the other birds as well ; %£$& and
and the ingenuity of birds is in no other department
more remarkable. Swallows build with clay and
strengthen the nest with straw; if ever there is a
lack of clay, they wet their wings with a quantity
of water and sprinkle it on the dust. The nest
itself, however, they carpet with soft feathers and
tufts of wool, to warm the eggs and also to prevent
it from being hard for the infant chicks. They dole
out food in turns among their offspring with extreme
fairness. They remove the chicks' droppings with
remarkable cleanliness, and teach the older ones to
turn round and relieve themselves outside of the nest.
There is another kind of swallow c that frequents the
country and the fields, which seldom nests on houses,
and which makes its nest of a different shape though
of the same material — entirely turned upward, with
orifices proj ecting to a narrow opening and a capacious
interio'r, and adapted with remarkable skill botlt to
conceal the chicks and to give them a soft bed to
lie on. In Egypt, at the Heracleotic Mouth of the
Nile, they block the outflow of the river with an
irremovable mole of contiguous nests almost two
hundred yards long, a thing that could not be achieved

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in eadem Aegypto iuxta oppidum Copton insula est
sacra Isidi quam ne laceret amnis idem muniunt
opere, incipientibus vernis diebus palea et stramento
rostrum eius firmantes, continuatis per triduum
noctibus tanto labore ut multas in opere et a mori
constet ; eaque militia illis cum anno redit semper.

95 tertium est earum genus quae rip as excavant atque
ita in terra nidificant.2 (harum pulli ad cinerem
ambusti mortifero 'faucium malo multisque aliis
morbis humani corporis medentur.) non faciunt hae
nidos, migrantque multis diebus ante si futurum est
ut auctus amnis attingat.

96 L. In genere vitiparrarum est cui nidus ex musco
arido ita absoluta perficitur pila ut inveniri non
possit aditus. acanthyllis appellatur eadem figura
ex lino intexens. picorum aliquis suspenditur
surculo primis in ramis cyathi modo, ut nulla quadripes
possit accedere. galgulos quidem ipsos dependentes
pedibus somnum cap ere conformant quia tutiores ita

97 se sperent. iam publicum quidem omnium est
tabulata ramorum sustinendo nido provide eligere,
camarare ab imbri aut fronde protegere densa. in
Arabia cinnamolgus avis appellatur, qjnnami surculis
nidificans.3 plumbatis eos sagittis decutiunt indigenae
mercis gratia, in Scythis avis magnitudine. otidis

1 v.L opere emori. 2 v.l. ita internidificant.

3 Mayhoff : nidificant aut -at.

* Our sand-martin. * Our long-tailed tit.

e Our goldfinch.. d This is an unfounded story.

BOOK X. XLTX. 94-L. 97

by human labour. Also in Egypt near the town of
Coptos there is an island sacred to Isis which they
fortify with a structure to prevent its being destroyed
by the same river, strengthening its point with chaff
and straw when the spring days begin, going on for
three days all* through the nights with such industry
that it is agreed that many birds actually die at the
work ; and this spell of duty always comes round again
for them with the returning year. There is a third
kind of swallows a that make holes in banks and so
construct their nests in the ground. (Their chicks
when burnt to ashes are a medicine for a deadly
throat malady and many other diseases of the human
body.) These birds do not build proper nests, and
if a rise of the river threatens to reach their holes,
they migrate many days in advance.

L. There is a species of titmouse b that makes other species
its nest of dry moss finished off in such a perfect JS
ball that its entrance cannot be found. The bird7
called the thistle-finch c weaves its nest out of flax
in the same shape. One of the woodpeckers hangs
by a twig at the very end of the boughs, like a ladle
on a peg, so that no four-footed animal can get to it.
It is indeed asserted that the witwall purposely
takes its sleep while hanging suspended by the feet.
because it hopes thus to be safer. Again, it is a
common practice of them all carefully to choose a
flooring of branches to support their nest, and
to vault it over against the rain or roof it with a
penthouse of thick foliage. In Arabia** a bird called
cinnamolgus makes a nest of cinnamon twigs;
the natives bring these birds down with arrows
weighted with lead, to use them for trade. In
Scythia a bird of the size of a bustard lays two eggs

353

VOL. III. A A

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

bina1 parit in leporina pelle semper in cacuminibus

98 ramorum suspensa. picae cum diligentius visum ab
homine nidum sens ere, ova transgerunt alio. hoc
in his avibus quarum digiti non sint accommodati
complectendis transferendisque ovis miro traditur
modo : namque surculo super bina ova inposito ac
ferruminato alvi glutino subdita cervice medio
aequa utrimque libra deportant alio.

99 LI. Nee vero iis minor sollertia quae cunabula in
terra faciunt corporis gravitate prohibitae sublime
pet ere. merops vocatur genitores suos reconditos
pascens, pallido intus colore pennarum, superne
cyaneo, priore parte2 subrutilo. nidificat in specu
sex pedum defossa altitudine.

100 Perdices spina et frutice sic muniunt receptaculum
ut contra feras abunde vallentur; ovis stragulum
molle pulvere contumulant, nee in quo loco peperere
incubant; ne cui frequentior conversatio suspecta
sit, transferunt alio. illae quidem et maritos suos
fallunt, quoniam intemperantia libidinis frangunt
earum ova ne incubando detineantur, tune inter se
dimicant mares desiderio feminarum; victum aiunt

101 venerem pati. id quidem et coturnices Trogus et
gallinaceos aliquando, perdices vero a domitis feros

1 Dcdecamp : binos.

2 Mayhoff ex Aristoide : priori.

354

BOOK X. L. 97-Li. 101

at a time in a hare-skin, which is always hung on the
top boughs of £rees. When magpies notice a person
observing their nest with special attention, they
transfer the eggs somewhere else. It is reported
that in the case of these birds, as their claws are
not adapted for grasping and carrying the eggs,
this is effected in a remarkable manner : they place
a sprig on the top of two eggs at a time, and solder
it with glue from their belly, and placing their neck
under the middle of it so as to make it balance
equally on both sides, carry it off somewhere else.

LI. Nor yet are those species less cunning which, Wests m. the
because the weight of their body forbids their grw *
soaring aloft, make their nests on the ground.
The name of bee-eater is given to a bird that feeds its
parents in their lair ; its wings are a pale colour inside
and dark-blue above, reddish at the tip. It makes
its nest in a hole dug in the ground to a depth of ten
feet.

Partridges fortify their retreat with thorn and Habits of the
bush in such a way as to be completely entrenched
against wild animals; they heap a soft covering of
dust on their eggs, and they do not sit on tliem at the
place where they laid them but remove them some-
where else, lest their frequently resorting there
should cause somebody to suspect it. Hen partridges
in fact deceive even their own mates, because these
in the intemperance of their lust break the hens'
eggs so that they may not be kept away by sitting
on them ; and then the cocks owing to their desire
for the hens fight duels with each other; it is said
that the one who loses has to accept the advances
of the victor. Trogus indeed says this also occurs
occasionally with quails and farmyard cocks, but

355

AA 2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

et novos aut victos iniri promiscue. capiuntur
quoque pugnacitate eiusdem libidinis, contra aucupis
inlicem exeunt e in proelium duce totius gregis,
capto eo procedit alter ac subinde singuli. rursus
circa conceptnm feminae capiuntur contra aucupum

102 feminam exeuntes ut rixando abigant earn, nee in
alio animali par opus libidinis. si contra mares ste-
terint feminae, aura'ab his flante praegnantes mint,
hiantes autem exerta lingua per id tempus aestuant.
concipiunt et supervolantium adflatu, saepe voce
tantum audita masculi. adeoque vincit libido etiam
fetus caritatem, ut ilia furtim et in occulto incubans,
cum sensit feminam aucupis accedentem ad marem,
recanat revocetque et ultro praebeat se libidini.
rabie quidem tanta feruntur ut in capite aucupantium

103 saepe caecae impetu l sedeant. si ad nidum is
coepit accedere, procurrit ad pedes eius feta, prae-
gravem aut delumbem sese simulans, subitoque in
procursu aut brevi aliquo volatu cadit fracta ut ala
aut pedibus, procurrit iterum iam iam prensurum
effugiens spemque frustrans, donee in diversum ab-
ducat a nidis. eadem in pavore libera ac materna

1 Jan (motu, initu <dii; an caeco impetu ?) : metu.

356

BOOK X. LI. 101-103

that wild partridges are promiscuously covered by
tame ones, and also new-comers or cocks that have
been beaten in a fight. They are also captured
owing to the fighting instinct caused by the same
lust, as the leader of the whole flock sallies out to
battle against the fowler *s decoy, and when he has
been caught number two advances, and so on one
after another in succession. Again about breeding
time the hens are caught when they sally out against
the fowlers' hen to hustle and drive her away.
And in no other creature is concupiscence so active.
If the hens stand facing the cocks they become
pregnant by the afflatus that passes out from them,
while if they open their beaks and put out their tongue
at that time they are sexually excited. Even the
draught of air from cocks flying over them, and
often merely the sound of a cock crowing, makes them
conceive. And even their affection for their brood
is so conquered by desire that when a hen is quietly
sitting on her eggs in hiding, if she becomes aware
of a fowler's decoy hen approaching her cock she
chirps him back to her and recalls him and voluntarily
offers herself to his desire. Indeed they are subject
to such madness that often with a blind swoop they
perch on the fowler's head. If he starts to go towards
a nest, the mother bird runs forward to his feet,
pretending to be tired or lame, and in the middle
of a run or a short flight suddenly falls as if with a
broken wing or damaged feet, and then runs forward
again, continually escaping him just as he is going to
catch her and cheating his hope, until she leads him
away in a different direction from the nests. On
the other hand if the hen thus scared is free and
not possessed with motherly anxiety she lies on her

357

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vacans cura in sulco resupina glaeba se terrae pedibus
adprehensa operit.

Perdicum vita et ad sedecim annos durare existi-
matur.

104 LII. Ab iis columbarum inaxime spectantur
simili ratione mores, inest x pudicitia illis plurima,2
et neutri nota adulteria : coniugii fidem non violant,
communemque servant domum : nisi caelebs aut
vidua nidum non relinquit. et imperiosos mares,
subinde etiam iniquos ferunt, quippe suspicio est
adulterii, quamvis natura non sit; tune plenum
querelae3 guttur saevique rostro ictus, mox in
satisfactione exosculatio et circa veneris preces

105 crebris pedum orbibus adulatio. amor utrique su-
bolis aequalis ; saepe et ex hac causa castigatio
pigrius intrante femina ad pullos. parturient!
solatia et ministeria ex mare, pullis primo salsiorem
terram collectam gutture in ora inspuunt praepa-
rantes tempestivitatem cibo. proprium generis eius
et turturum cum bibant colla non resupinare, largeque
bibere iumentorum modo.

106 Vivere palumbes ad tricensimum annum, aliquas
et ad quadragensimum, habemus auctores, uno
tantum incommodo unguium — eodem et argumento
senectae — qui citra perniciem reciduntur. cantus
omnibus similis atque idem trino conficitur versu,

1 Mayhoff : inde sed. 2 Mayhojf : prima.

3 May1toff(1)i querela.

358

BOOK X LI. 103-Lii. 106

back in a furrow and catches hold of a clod of earth
with her claws and covers herself with it.

The life of partridges is believed to extend to
as much as sixteen years.

LI I. Next to partridges the habits of pigeons
are most noticeable for a similar reason. These plffems'
possess the greatest modesty, and adultery is un-
known to either sex; they do not violate the faith
of wedlock, and they keep house in company —
unless unmated or widowed a pigeon does not leave
its nest. Also they say that the cock pigeon is
domineering, and occasionally even unkind, as he
is suspicious of adultery although not himself prone
to it ; in this state his throat is full of complaining
and his beak deals savage pecks, and upon his satis-
faction there follows billing and fawning with repeated
twirlings of his feet during his entreaties for in-
dulgence. Both partners have equal affection for
their offspring; this also often gives occasion for
chastisement, when the hen is too slack in coming
home to the chicks. When she is producing a
brood she receives comfort and attendance from the
cock. For the chicks at first they collect saltish
earth in their throat and disgorge it into their beaks,
to get them into proper condition for food. It is a
peculiarity of this species and of the turtle-dove not
to raise the neck backward when drinking, and
to take copious draughts like cattle.

We have authorities for saying that wood-pigeons
live to be thirty and in some cases forty years old,
only with the single inconvenience of their claws —
this also a sign of old age — which have to be cut to
prevent damage. The cooing of all is alike and the
same, composed of a phrase repeated three times and

359

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

praeterque in clausula gemitu, hieme mutis, a vere
vocalibus. Nigidius putat3 cum ova incubet sub
tecto, nominatam palumbem relinquere nidos.

107 pariunt autem post solstitium. columbae et turtures
octonis annis vivunt. contra passeri minimum
vitae, cui salacitas par : mares negantur anno diutius
durare, argumento quia nulla veris initio appareat
nigritudo in rostro, quae ab aestate incipit ; feminis

108 longiusculum spatium. verum columbis inest qui-
dam et gloriae intellectus : nosse credas suos colores
varietatemque dispositam; quin etiam ex volatu
quaeritur : plaudere in caelo varieque sulcare. qua
in ostentatione ut vinctae praebentur accipitri,
inplicatis strepitu pennis qui non nisi ipsis alarum
umeris eliditur, alioquin soluto volatu multum
velociores. speculatur occultus fronde latro et

109 gaudentem in ipsa gloria rapit. ob id cum his
habenda'est avis quae-tinnungulus vocatur; defendit
enim illas terretque accipitres naturali potentia in
tantum ut visum vocemque eius fugiant. hac de
causa praecipuus columbis amor eorum, feruntque,
si in quattuor angulis defodiantur in ollis novis
oblitis, non mutare sedem columbas (quod et auro
insectis alarum articulis quaesivere aliqui, non aliter
360

BOOK X. LII. 106-109

then a sigh at the close ; in winter they are silent,
but begin singing in spring. Nigidius thinks that a
wood-pigeon when sitting on her eggs under a roof
will leave her nest in answer to her name. They
lay after midsummer. Pigeons and turtle-doves live
eight years. On the other hand the sparrow, their
equal in salaciousness, has a very small span of life :
the cocks are said not to last longer than a year, the
proof being that at the beginning of spring no black
colouring is seen on their beak, which begins with
summer ; but the hens have a rather longer span of
life. However pigeons actually possess a certain
sense of vanity — you would fancy them to be con-
scious of their own colours and the pattern of their
marking; indeed this can be inferred from their
flight— it is observed that they flap their wings in
the sky and trace a variety of lines. During this Pigeons <md
display they expose themselves to the hawk as if *""**•
fettered, folding their wings with a flapping noise
that is only produced from the actual wing joints,
though otherwise when flying freely they are much
swifter. The highwayman hawk watches concealed
in foliage, and seizes the exultant pigeon in the
very act of showing off. For that reason the bird Pigeons cmd
called kestrel must be classed with these; for it *
defends the pigeons, and scares the hawks by its
natural powerfulness so much that they fly from sight
and sound of it. For this reason wood-pigeons have
a special love for kestrels, and they say that if kestrels
put in new jars with their mouths sealed up are
hidden in the four corners of the dovecot the pigeons
do not change their abode (a result that some
people have also sought to obtain by cutting the joints
of their wings with gold, the only way of making a

361

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

innoxiis vulneribus) multivagam alioquin avem.1 est
enim ars illis inter se blandiri et corrumpere alias

110 furtoque comitatiores reverti. LIII. quin et inter-
nuntiae in magnis rebus fuere, epistulas adnexas
earum pedibus obsidione Mutinensi in castra con-
sulum Decumo Bruto mittente ; quid vallum et
vigil obsidio atque etiam retia in amne praetenta
profuere Antionio per caelum eunte nuntio? et
harum amore insaniunt raulti; super tecta exae-
dificant turres his, nobilitatemque singularum et
origines narrant, vetere iam exemplo : L. Axius
eques Romanus ante bellum civile Pompeianum
denariis cccc singula paria venditavit, ut M.
Varro tradit. quin et patriam nobilitavere in Cam-
pania grandissimae provenire existimatae.

111 LIV. Harum volatus in reputationem ceterarum
quoque volucrum inpellit. omnibus animalibus
reliquis certus et unius modi et in suo cuique genere
incessus est: aves solae vario meatu feruntur et in
terra et in aere. ambulant aliquae, ut cornices ;
saliunt aliae, ut passeres, merulae; currunt, ut
perdices, rusticulae; ante se pedes iaciunt, ut
ciconiae, grues. expandunt aliae 2 alas pendentesque
raro intervallo quatiunt, aliae crebrius sed et primas
dumtaxat pennas, aliae tota latera plaudunt;

1 Rackham : multivaga . . . ave.

2 aliae add. Rackham.

0 By Mark Antony 44H& B,o.
* Begun in_49 B.C.

362

BOOK X. LIT. IOQ-LIV. in

wound that does no harm), although otherwise
the pigeon is a bird much given to straying. For
they have a trick of exchanging blandishments
and enticing other pigeons and coming back with a
larger company won by intrigue. LIIL Moreover carrier-
also they have acted as go-betweens in important pf^;
affairs, when at the siege a of Modena Decimus fancier*.
Brutus sent to the consuls' camp despatches tied to
their feet; what use to Antony were his rampart
and watchful besieging force, and even the barriers
of nets that he stretched in the river, when the
message went by air? Also pigeon-fancying is
carried to insane lengths by some people : they
build towers on their roofs for these birds, and tell
stories of the high breeding and pedigrees of par-
ticular birds, for which there is now an old pre-
cedent: before Pompey's civil war& Lucius Axius,
Knight of Rome, advertised pigeons for sale at 400
denarii per brace — so Marcus Varro relates. More-
over the largest birds, which are believed to be
produced in Campania, have conferred fame on
their native place.

LIV. The flight of these birds prompts one to turn might and
to the consideration of the other birds as well. All ££j|^
the rest of the animals have one definite and uniform spedes of
mode of progression peculiar to their particular kind,
but birds alone travel in a variety of ways both, on
land and in the air. Some walk, as crows; others
hop, as sparrows and blackbirds ; run, as partridges
and black grouse ; throw out their feet in front of
them, as storks and cranes. Some spread their
wings and at rare intervals let them droop and shake
them; others do so more frequently, but also only
the tips of the wings ; others flap the whole of their

363

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

112 quaedam vero maiore ex parte compressis volant
percussoque semel, aliquae et gemino ictu, acre
feruntur ; velut inclusum eum prementes eiaculantur
sese in sublime, in rectum, in promim. impingi putes
aliquas aut rursus ab alto cadere has, illas salire.
anates solae quaeque sunt eiusdem generis in sublime
protinus sese tollunt atque e vestigio caelum petunt,
et hoc etiam ex aqua; itaque in foveas quibus

113 feras venamur delapsae solae evadunt. vultur et
fere graviores nisi ex procursu aut altiore cumulo
inmissae non evolant; cauda reguntur. aliae cir-
cumspectant, aliae flectunt colla ; nee nullae 1
vescuntur ea quae rapuere pedibus. sine voce non
volant multae, aliae e2 contrario semper in volatu
silent, subrectae, pronae, obliquae, in latera, in
ora, quaedam et resupinae feruntur, ut, si pariter
cernantur genera plura, non in eadem natura meare
videantur.

114 LV. Plurimum volant quae apodes (quia careant
usu pedum), ab aliis cypseli appellantur hirundinum
specie, nidificant in scopulis. hae sunt quae toto
marl cernuntur, nee umquam tarn longo naves tamque
continue cursu recedunt a terra ut non circum-
volitent eas apodes. cetera genera residunt et insis-
tunt, his quies nisi in nido nulla: aut pendent aut
iacent.

1 vM. nee nllae, nonnullae.

2 Mueller : aut e.

a Swifts.
364

BOOK X. LIV. ii2-Lv. 114

sides ; but there are some that fly with their wings
for the greater part folded, and after giving one
stroke, or others also a repeated stroke, are borne by
the air: by as it were squeezing it tight between
their wings, they shoot upward or horizontally or
downward. Some you would think to be flung for-
ward, or again in some cases to fall from a height and
in other cases to leap upward. Only ducks and birds
of the same kind soar up straight away, and move
skyward from the start, and this even from water;
and consequently they alone when they have fallen
into the pits that we use for trapping wild animals
get out again. Vultures and the heavier birds in
general cannot fly upward except after a run forward
or when launching from a higher eminence; they
steer with their tail. Some birds turn their gaze
round, others bend their necks ; and some eat things
they have snatched with their feet. Many do not
fly without a cry, others on the contrary are always
silent when in flight. They move upward, downward,
slanting, sideways, straight forward, and some even
with the head bent backward; consequently if
several kinds are seen at the same time, they might
be thought not to be travelling in the same
element.

LV. The greatest flyers are the species resembling Flight of
swallows called apodes* (because they lack the use ofs
feet) and by others * cypseli.' They build their
nests on crags. These are the birds seen all over
the sea, and ships never go away from land on so
long or so unbroken a course that they do not have
apodes flying round them. All the other kinds alight
and perch, but these- never rest except on the nest:
they either hover or lie on a surface.

365

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

115 LVL Et ingenia aeque varia, ad pastum maxime.
caprimulgi appellantur, grandioris merulae aspectu,
fures nocturni — interdiu enim visu carent. intrant
pastorum stabula caprarumque uberibus advolant
suctum propter lactis, qua iniuria uber emoritur
caprisque caecitas quas ita mulsere oboritur. platea
nominatur advolans ad eas quae se in mari mergunt
et capita illarum morsu corripiens, donee capturam
extorqueat. eadem cum devoratis se implevit con-
chis, ealore ventris coctas evomit, atque ita ex iis
esculent a eligit test as excernens.

116 LVII. Villaribus gallinis et religio inest : inhorres-
cunt edito ovo excutiuntque sese et circumactae
purificant ac * festuca aliqua sese et ova lustrant.
minimae avium cardueles imperata faciunt, nee
voce tantum sed pedibus et ore pro manibus.
est quae bourn mugitus imitetur, in Arelatensi agro
taurus appellata, alioquin parva est. equorum
quoque hinnitus anthus nomine herbae pabulo
adventu eorum pulsa imitatur ad hunc modum se
ulciscens.

117 LVIIL Super omnia humanas voces reddunt,
' psittaci quidem etiam sermocinantes. India hanc

avem mittit, siptacen vocat, viridem toto corpore,
torque tantum miniato in cervice distinctam. im-
peratores2 salutat et quae accipit verba pronuntiat,
in vino praecipue lasciva. capiti eius duritia eadem
1 Gelen: ant. 2 imperatorem ? Rackham.

a There is no foundation for this story.
6 This is a mistake. c Our bittern.

d Probably the yellow wagtail.
e The ring-necked parrakeet is meant.
J A mistake for p&ittacus, parrot. „

0 Or possibly, emenduig the text * gives the salute to tl*e
emperor ', says * Ave, Caesar 1 '

BOOK X. LVL 115-Lviii. 117

LVL Birds' dispositions also are equally varied, c
especially in respect of food. Those called goat- the
suckers, which resemble a rather large blackbird,
are night thieves — for they cannot see in the daytime.
They enter the shepherds' stalls and fly to the goats'
udders in order to suck their milk, which injures the
udder and makes it perish, and the goats they have
milked in this way gradually go blind.* There is a
bird called the shoveller-duck which flies up to the
sea-divers and seizes their heads in its bill till it
wrings their catch from them. The same bird after
filling itself by swallowing shells brings them up
again when digested by the warmth of the belly and
so picked out from them the edible parts, discarding
the shells.

LVII. Farmyard hens actually have a religious
ritual : after laying an egg they begin to shiver and other fords.
shake, and purify themselves by circling round, and
make use of a straw as a ceremonial rod to cleanse
themselves and the eggs. The smallest6 of birds, the
goldfinches, perform their Reader's orders, not only
with their song but by using their feet and beak
instead of hands. One bird in the Aries district,
called the bull-bird c although really it is small in size,
imitates the bellowing of oxen. Also the bird * whose
Greek name is ' flower/ when driven away from
feeding on grass by the arrival of horses, imitates
their neighing, in this way taking its revenge.

LVIII. Above all, birds imitate the human voice,
parrots indeed actually talking. India sends us this
bird* ; its name in the vernacular is siptacesf ; its whole
body is green, only varied by a red circlet at the neck.
It greets its masters/ and repeats words given to it,
being particularly sportive over the wine. Its head

367

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quae rostro ; hoc, cum loqui discit, ferreo verberatur
radio : non sentit aliter ictus, cum devolat, rostro
se excipit, illi innititur levioremque ita se pedum
infirmitati facit.

118 LIX. Minor nobilitas, quia non. ex longinquo
venit, sed expressior loquacitas certo generi picarum
est. adamant verba quae loquantur nee discunt
tantum1 sed diligunt, meditantesque intra semet
cura atque cogitatione 2 intentionem non occultant.
constat emori victas difficultate verbi ac, nisi subinde
eadem audiant, memoria falli, quaerentesque mirum
in modum hilarari si interim audierint id verbum.
nee vulgaris 3 forma, quamvis non spectanda : satis

119 illis decoris in specie 4 sermonis humani est. verum
addiscere alias negant posse quam ex genere earum
quae glande vescantur, et inter eas facilius quibus
quini sint digiti in pedibus, ac ne eas quidem ipsas
nisi primis duobus vitae annis. latiores linguae
omnibus in suo cuique genere quae sermonem
imitantur humanum, quamquam id paene in omnibus

120 contingit : Agrippina .Claudii Caesaris turdum
habuit, quod numquam ante, imitantem sermones
hominum. cum haecproderem, habebant et Caesar es
iuvenes sturnum, item luscinias, Graeco ac Latino
sermone dociles, praeterea meditantes assidue et
in diem 5 nova loquentes, loquentes, longiore etiam
contextu. docentur secreto et ubi nulla alia vox

1 tantum om. /plurimi.

2 v.l. curam atque cogitationem.

3 Mayhoff ( ?) : vulgaris his.

4 MayJioff: spe.

: in diem et assidue.

tf Britannicus, Claudius's son, and Nero, liis stepson.

BOOK X. LVIII. ny-Lix. 120

is as hard as its beak ; and when it is being taught to
speak it is beaten on the head with an iron rod —
otherwise it does not feel blows. When it alights
from flight it lands on its beak, and it leans on this
and so reduces its weight for the weakness of its feet.

LIX. A certain kind of magpie is less celebrated. Talking
because it does not come from a distance, but it talks '
more articulately. These birds get fond of uttering
particular words, and not only learn them but love
them, and secretly ponder them with careful reflexion,
not concealing their engrossment. It is an established
fact that if the difficulty of a word beats them this
causes their death, and that their memory fails them
unless they hear the same word repeatedly, and
when they are at a loss for a word they cheer up
wonderfully if in the meantime they hear it spoken.
Their shape is unusual, though not beautiful: this
bird has enough distinction in its power of imitating
the human voice. But they say that none of them
can go on learning except ones of the species that
feeds on acorns, and among these those with five
claws on the feet learn more easily, and not even
they themselves except in the two first years of their
life. All the birds in each kind that imitate human
speech have exceptionally broad tongues, although
this occurs in almost all species ; Claudius Caesar's
consort Agrippina had a thrush that mimicked what
people said, which was unprecedented. At the time
when I was recording these cases, the young princes a
had a starling and also nightingales that were actually
trained to talk Greek and Lathi, and moreover
practised diligently and spoke new phrases every
day, in still longer sentences. Birds are taught to
talk in private and where no other utterance can

369

VOL. HI. B B

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

misceatur, adsidente qui crebro dicat ea quae con-
dita velit ac cibis blandiente.

121 LX. Reddatur et corvis sua gratia, indignatione
quoque populi Roman! testata, non solum conscientia.
Tiberio principe ex fetu supra Castorum aedem
genito pullus in adpositam sutrinam devolavit,
etiam religione commendatus officinae domino, is
mature sermoni adsuefactus, omnibus matutinis evo-
lans in rostra in forum versus Tiberiurn, dein Ger-
manicum et Drusum Caesares nominatim, mox
transeuntem populum Romanum salutabat, postea
ad tabernam remeans, plurium annorum adsiduo

122 omcio mirus. hunc sive aemulatione vicinitatis
manceps proximae sutrinae sive iracundia subita, ut
voluit videri, excrementis aspersa1 calceis macula,
exanimavit tanta plebei consternatione ut primo
pulsus ex ea regione, mox et interemptus sit, funusque
aliti innumeris celebratum exequiis, constratum
lectum super Aethiopum duorum umeros praecedente
tibicine et coronis omnium generum ad rogum usque
qui constructus dextra viae Appiae ad secundum lapi-

123 dem in campo Rediculi appellate fuit. adeo sati^ iusta
causa populo Romano visa est exequiarum ingenium
avis ac 2 supplicii de cive Romano in ea urbe in qua

1 MayJioff (?) : eras posita.

2 ac ? Mayhoff : ant.

0 Here Hannibal turned back (redtit) from marchi
Rome, and there was a chapel to Kediculus, a deity
name commemorated the event.

370

BOOK X. LXIX. i2O-Lx. 123

interrupt, with the trainer sitting by them to keep
on repeating the words he wants retained, and
coaxing them with morsels of food.

LX. Let us also repay due gratitude to the ravens A talking
the gratitude that is their due, evidenced also by the raven'
indignation and not only by the knowledge of the
Roman nation. When Tiberius was emperor, a young
raven from a brood hatched on the top of the Temple
of Castor and Pollux flew down to a cobbler's shop
in the vicinity, being also commended to the master
of the establishment by religion. It soon picked up
the habit of talking, and every morning used to fly
off to the Platform that faces the forum and salute
Tiberius and then Germanicus and Drusus Caesar
by name, and next the Roman public passing by,
afterwards returning to the shop; and it became
remarkable by several years' constant performance
of this function. This bird the tenant of the next
cobbler's shop killed, whether because of his neigh-
bour's competition or in a sudden outburst of anger,
as he tried to make out, because some dirt had fallen
on his stock of shoes from its droppings ; this caused
such a disturbance among the public that the man was
first driven out of the district and later actually made
away with, and the bird's funeral was celebrated with
a vast crowd of followers, the draped bier being
carried on the shoulders of two Ethiopians and in
front of it going in procession a flute-player and all
kinds of wreaths right to the pyre, which had been
erected on the right hand side of the Appian Road
at the second milestone a on the ground called Redi-
culus's Plain. So adequate a justification did the
Roman nation consider a bird's cleverness to be for a
funeral procession and for the punishment of a Roman

37i

BB2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

multorum principum nemo deduxerat funus, Scipionis
vero Aemiliani post Carthaginem Numantiamque
deletas ab eo nemo vindicaverat mortem, hoc
gestum M. Servilio C. Cestio coss. a. d. v kal.

124 Apriles. nunc quoque erat in urbe Roma haec
prodente me equitis Roman! cornix e Baetica primum
colore mira admodum nigro, dein plura contexta
verba exprimens et alia atque alia crebro addiscens.
nee non et recens fama Crateri Monocerotis cogno-
mine in Erizena regione Asiae corvorum opera
venantis eo quod devehebat in silvas eos insidentes
corniculo umerisque ; illi vestigabant agebantque, eo
perducta consuetudine ut exeuntem sic comitarentur

125 et feri. tradendum putavere memoriae quidam
visum per sitim lapides congerentem in situlam
monimenti in qua pluvia aqua duraret1 sed quae
attingi non posset; ita descendere paventem
expressisse tali congerie quantum poturo sufficeret.

*126 LXL Nee Diomedias praeteribo aves. luba cata-
ractas vocat, et eis esse dentes oculosque igneo
colore, cetero candidis, tradens. duos semper his
duces, alterum ducere agmen, alterum cogere;

1 Eackham : durabat aut mutila.

* 129 B.C. 6 146 B.C. e 133 B.C.

d A horn-shaped ornament, the reward of bravery.

* Perhaps the gannet.

BOOK X. LX. 123-Lxi. 126

citizen, in the city in which many leading men had
had no obsequies at all, while the death a of Scipio
Aemilianus after he had destroyed Carthage 6 and
Numantia c had not been avenged by a single person.
The date of this was 28 March, A.D. 36, in the consul-
ship of Marcus Servilius and Gaius Cestius. At the
present day also there was in the city of Rome at the A talking
time when I was publishing this book a crow belong- erott-
ing to a Knight of Rome, that came from Southern
Spain, and was remarkable in the first place for
its very black colour and then for uttering .sentences
of several words and frequently learning still more
words in addition. Also there was recently a report Ravem
of one Crates surnamed Monoceros in the district
Eriza in Asia hunting with the aid of ravens, to such
an extent that he used to carry them down into the
forests perched on the crest a of his helmet and on his
shoulders ; the birds used to track out and drive the
game, the practice being carried to such a point
that even wild ravens followed him in this way when
he left the forest. Certain persons have thought it
worth recording that a raven was seen during a
drought dropping stones into a monumental um in
which some rain water still remained but so that the
bird was unable to reach it; in this way as it was
afraid to go down into the urn, the bird by piling up
stones in the manner described raised the water high
enough to supply itself with a drink.

LXI. Nor will I pass by the birds e of Diomede.
Juba calls them Plungers-birds, also reporting that
they have teeth, and that their eyes are of a fiery red
colour but the rest of them bright white. He states
that they always have two leaders, one of whom leads
the column and the other brings up the rear; that

373

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

scrobes excavare rostro, inde crate consternere et
operire terra quae ante fuerit egesta ; in his fetificare ;
fores binas omnium scrobibus: orientem spectare
quibus exeant in pascua, occasum quibus redeant;
alvum exoneraturas subvolare semper et contrario

127 flatu. uno hae in loco totius orbis visuntur, in insula
quam diximus nobilem Diomedis tumulo atque
delubro, contra Apuliae oram, fulicarum similes,
advenas barbaros clangore infestant, Graecis tantum
adulantur miro discrimine, velut generi Diomedis hoc
tribuentes, aedemque earn cotidie pleno gutture
madentibus pennis perluunt atque purificant, unde
origo fabulae Diomedis socios in earum effigies
mutatos.

128 LXII. Non omittendum est, cum de ingeniis
disserimus, e volucribus hirundines indociles esse, e
terrestribus mures, cum elephanti iussa faciant,
leones iugum subeant, in mari vituli totque piscium
genera mitescant.

129 LXIII. Bibunt aves suctu ex iis quibus longa colla
intermittentes et capite resupinato velut infundentes
sibi. porphyrio solus morsu bibit, idem est pro-
prio genere, omnem cibum aqua subinde tinguens,
deinde pede ad rostrum veluti manu adferens.
laudatissimi in Commagene; rostra his et praelonga
crura rubent.

• m i5i.

374

BOOK X. LXI. 126-Lxm. 129

they hollow out trenches with their beaks and then
roof them over with lattice and cover this with the
earth that they have previously dug from the trenches,
and in these they hatch their eggs ; that the trenches
of all of them have two doors, that by which they go
out to forage facing east and that by which they
return west ; and that when about to relieve them-
selves they always fly upwards and against the wind.
These birds are commonly seen in only one place in
the whole world, in the island which we spoke of a
as famous for the tomb and shrine of Diomede, off
the coast of Apulia, and they resemble coots. Bar-
barian visitors they beset with loud screaming, and
they pay deference only to Greeks, a remarkable
distinction, as if paying this tribute to the race of
Diomede ; and every day they wash and purify the
temple mentioned by filling their throats with water
and wetting their wings, which is the source of the
legend that the comrades of Diomede were trans-
formed into the likeness of these birds.

LXII. In a discussion of mental faculties it must £ocae and
not be omitted that among birds swallows and among
land animals mice are unteachable, whereas elephants
execute orders and lions are yoked to chariots, and
in the sea seals and ever so many kinds of fish can
be tamed.

LXIII. Birds of the kinds that have long necks £***»'
drink by suction, stopping now and then and so to
speak pouring the water into themselves by bending
their head back. Only the porphyrio drinks by beak-
fuls ; it also eats in a peculiar way of its own, con-
tinually dipping all its food in water and then using
its foot as a hand with which to bring it to its beak.
The most admired variety of sultana-hen is in Com-
magene ; this has a red beak and very long red legs.

375

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

130 LXIV. Haec quidem et himantopodi multo minori,
quamquam eadem crurum altitudine. nascitur in
Aegypto. insistit ternis digitis. praecipue ei
pabulum muscae. vita in Italia paucis diebus.

LXV. Graviores omnes et1 fruge vescuntur, alti-
volae carne tantum, inter aquaticas mergi, soliti avide
vorare 2 quae ceterae reddunt.

131 LXVI. Olorum similitudinem onocrotali habent,
nee distare existimarentur omnino, nisi faucibus ipsis
inesset alterius uteri genus, hue omnia inexplebile
animal congerit, mira ut sit capacitas. mox perfecta
rapina sensinx inde in os reddita in veram alvum
ruminantis modo refert. Gallia hos septentrionali
proxima oceano mittit.

132 LXVII. In Hercynio Germaniae saltu inusitata3
genera alitum accepimus quarum plumae ignium
modo conluceant noctibus; in ceteris nihil praeter
nobilitatem longinquitate factam memorandum oc^
currit. phalerides in Seleucia Parthorum et in Asia
aquaticarum laudatissimae, rursus phasianae in
Colchis — geminas ex pluma aures submittunt sub-
riguntque — , Numidicae in parte Africae Numidia,
onmes quae 4 iam in Italia.

133 LXVIII. Phoenicopteri linguam praecipui saporis
esse Apicius docuit nepotum omnium altissimus
gurges. attagen maxime lonius celeb er et vocalis

1 et add. 9 Mayhoff.

2 Mayhoff : solida ut devorare.

3 v.l. invisitata (cf. § 84).

4 Mayhoff (vel omnes) : omnesque.

0 The Black Forest and the Hartz.

6 The guinea-fowl, above called mdeagrides.

376

BOOK X. LXIV. 130-Lxviii. 133

LXIV. The long-legged plover has the same, a The
much smaller bird although with equally long legs. him
It is born in Egypt. It stands on three toes of each
foot. Its food consists chiefly of flies. When brought
to Italy it lives only for a few days.

LXV. All the heavier birds feed also on grain, but FUsh-diet
the scaring species on flesh only, and so among °fbirdi-
aquatic birds the cormorants, who regularly devour
what the rest disgorge.

LXVI. Pelicans have a resemblance to swans3 and
would be thought not to differ from them at all
were it not that they have a kind of second stomach
in their actual throats. Into this the insatiable
creature stows everything, so that its capacity is
marvellous. Afterwards when it has done plundering
it gradually returns the things from this pouch into
its mouth and passes them into the true stomach like
a ruminant animal. These birds come to us from the
extreme north of Gaul.

LXVII. We have been told of strange kinds of other
birds in the Hercynian Forest a of Germany whose J
feathers shine like fires at night-time; but in the
other forests nothing noteworthy occurs beyond the
notoriety caused by remoteness. The most cele-
brated water-bird in Parthian Seleucia and in Asia
is the phalaris-duck, the most celebrated bird in
Colchis the pheasant — it droops and raises its two
feathered ears — and in the Nuniidian part of Africa
the Numidic fowl6 ; all of these are now found in
Italy.

LXVIII. Apicius, the most gluttonous gorger of RareWrds
all spendthrifts, established the view that the*'
flamingo's tongue has a specially fine flavour. The
fraiicolin of Ionia is extremely famous. Normally it is

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

alias, captus vero obmutescens, quondam existimatus
inter raras aves, iam et in Gallia Hispaniaque.
capitur circa 1 Alpes etiam, ubi et phalacrocoraees,
avis Baliarium insularum peculiaris, sicut Alpium
pyrrhocorax luteo rostro niger et praecipua sapore
lagopus. pedes leporino villo nomen hoc dedere

134 cetero candidae, columbarum magnitudine. non
extra terram earn vesci facile, quando nee vita
mansuescit et corpus ocissime marcescit. est et
alia nomine eodem a coturnicibus magnitudine
tantum differens, croceo tinctu, cibis gratissima.
visam in Alpibus ab se peculiarem Aegypti et ibim
Egnatius Calvinus praefectus earum prodidit.

135 LXIX. Venerunt in Italiam Bedriacensibus bellis
civilibus trans Padum et novae aves — ita enim adhuc
vocantur — turdorum specie, paulum infra columbas
magnitudine, sapore gratae. Baliares insulae nobi-
liorem etiam supra dicto porphyrionem mittunt. ibi et
buteo accipitrum generis in honore mensarum est,
item vipiones 2 — sic enim vocant minorem gruem.

136 LXX. Pegasos equino capite volucres et gryphas 3
auritos ac dira4 aduncitate rostri fabulosos reor,
illos in Scythia, hos in Aethiopia; equidem et
tragopana de qua plures adfirmant, maiorem

1 circa Mayhoff : et.

2 v.lL viviones, vibiones.

3 v.L grypas.

4 auritos ac dira ? Mayhoff : auritos aut aurita.

a Cevedale between Cremona and Verona, where in A.t>. 69
Otho was defeated by the troops of Vitellius, and a few months
later these in turn by those of Vespasian*

& Probably the sand-grouse.

c Perhaps Pliny has got them the wrong way round — at all
events the griffin was usually placed in Seythia. But in point
of fact the reference of the pronouns is not quite certain.

378

BOOK X. XLVIII, i33-Lxx. 136

vocal, though when caught it keeps silent. It was
once considered one of the rare birds, but now it also
occurs in Gaul and Spain. It is even caught in the
neighbourhood of the Alps, where also cormorants
occur, a bird specially belonging to the Balearic
Islands, as the chough, black with a yellow beak,
and the particularly tasty willow-grouse belong
to the Alps. The latter gets its name of hare-foot '
from its feet which are tufted like a hare's, though the
rest of it is bright white ; it is the size of a pigeon.
Outside that region it is not easy to keep it, as it
does not grow tame in its habits and very quickly loses
flesh. There is also another bird with the same name
that only differs from quails in size, yellow-coloured,
very acceptable for the table. Egnatius Calvinus,
Governor of the Alps, has stated that also the ibis,
which properly belongs to Egypt3 has been seen by
him in that region.

LXIX. There also came into Italy during the battles Birds
of the civil war round Bedriacum a north of the Po J
the 'new birds*6 — for so they are still called — which
are like thrushes in appearance and a little smaller
than pigeons in size, and which have an agreeable
flavour. The Balearic Islands send the porphyrio,
an even more splendid bird than the one mentioned
above. In those islands the buzzard of the hawk family
is also in repute for the table, and the yipio as well —
that is their name for the smaller crane.

LXX. The pegasus bird with a horse's head and Fabuitw
the griffin with ears and a terrible hooked beak— the ***•
former said to be found in Scythia and the ktter in
Ethiopia* — I judge to be fabulous ; and for my own
part I think the same about the bearded eagle d

* Qf. § II »., § 13.

379

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aqxiila, cornua in temporibus curvata habentem,
ferruginei colons, tantum capite phoeniceo. nee
sirenes impetraverint fidern, adfirmet licet Dinon
Clitarchi celebrati auctoris pater in India esse mul-
cerique earum cantu quos gravatos somno lacerent.

137 qui credat ista, et Melampodi profecto auguri
aures 1 lambendo dedisse intellectum avium sermonis
dracones non abnuat, vel quae Democritus tradit
nominando aves quarum confuso sanguine serpens
gignatur, quern quisquis ederit intellecturus sit
alitum colloquia, quaeque de una ave galerita priva-
tim commemorat, etiam sine his inmensa vitae

138 ambage circa auguria. nominantur ab Homero
scopes, avium genus : neque harum satyricos motus,
cum insidientur, plerisque memoratos facile con-
ceperim mente, neque ipsae iam aves noscuntur.
quamobrem de confessis disseruisse praestiterit.

139 LXXI. Gallinas saginare Deliaci coepere, unde
pestis exorta opimas aves et suopte corpore unctas
devorandi. hoc primurn antiquis cenarum inter-
dictis exceptum invenio iam lege Gai Fanni consulis
undecim annis ante tertium Funicum bellum, ne
quid volucrum poneretur praeter unam gallinam quae
non esset altilis, quod deinde caput translatum per

140 omnes leges ambulavit. inventumque deverticulum

1 auguri aures Detlefsen : aures aut augures.

Odyssey V 66. 6 A genus of owl.

e B.C. 161.

380

BOOK X. LXX. 136-Lxxi. 140

attested by a number of people, a bird larger than an
eagle, having curved horns on the temples, in colour
a rusty red, except that its head is purple-red. Nor
should the sirens obtain credit, although Dinon the
father of the celebrated authority Clitarchus declares
that they exist in India and that they charm people
with their song and then when they are sunk in a heavy
sleep tear them in pieces. Anybody who would be-
lieve that sort of thing would also assuredly not deny
that snakes by licking the ears of the augur Melam-
pus gave him the power to understand the language
of birds, or the story handed down by Democritus,
who mentions birds from a mixture of whose blood
a snake is born, whoever eats which will understand
the conversations of birds, and the things that he
records about one crested lark in particular, as even
without these stories life is involved in enormous
uncertainty with respect to auguries. Homer a
mentions a kind of bird called the scops & ; many people The dancing
speak of its comic dancing movements when it is scops-
watching for its prey, but I cannot easily grasp these
in my mind, nor are the birds themselves now known.
Consequently a discussion of admitted facts will be
more profitable.

LXXI. The people of Delos began the practice of Fattening
fattening hens, which has given rise to the pestilential ^Sy^!9
fashion of gorging fat poultry basted with its own^**^-
gravy. I find this first singled out in the old inter-
dicts dealing with feasts as early as the law of the
consul Gaius Fannius eleven years c before the Third
Punic War, prohibiting the serving of any bird course
beside a single hen that had not been fattened — a
provision that was subsequently renewed and went
on through all our sumptuary legislation. And a

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

est in fraudem earum gallinaceos quoque pascendi
lacte madidis cibis : multo ita gratiores adprobantur.
feminae quidem ad saginam non omnes eliguntur,
nee nisi in cervice pingui cute, postea culinarum
artes, ut clunes spectentur, ut dividantur in tergora,
ut a pede uno dilatatae repositoria occupent. dedere
et Farthi cocis suos mores, nee tamen in hoc
mangonio quicquam totum placet, dune, alibi
pectore tantrum laudatis.

HI LXXII. Aviaria primus instituit inclusis omnium
generum avibus M. Laenius Strabo Brundisi equestris
ordinis. ex eo coepimus carcere animalia coercere
quibus rerum natura caelum adsignaverat. maxime
tamen insignis est in hac memoria Clodii Aesopi,
tragici Mstrionis, patina HS c taxata, in qua posuit
aves cantu aliquo aut humano sermone vocales, HS

142 vi singulas coemptas, nulla alia inductus suavitate
nisi ut in iis imitationem hominis manderet, ne
quaestus quidem suos reveritus illos opimos et voce
meritos, dignus prorsus filio a quo devoratas diximus
margaritas, non sic tamen ut verum facere velim 1
inter duos iudicium turpitudinis, nisi2 quod minus
est summas rerum naturae opes quam hominum
linguas cenasse.

1 velim Mueller : vi. z edd. : si.

0 IX 122.
382

BOOK X. LXXI. 140-Lxxn. 142

way round so as to evade them was discovered, that
of feeding male chickens also with foodstuffs soaked
in milk, a method that makes them esteemed as
much more acceptable. As for hens, they are not
all chosen for fattening, and not unless they have
fat skin on the neck. Subsequently came elaborate
methods of dressing fowls, so as to display the
haunches, so as to split them along the back, so as
to make them fill the dishes by spreading them out
from one foot. Even the Parthians bestowed their
fashions on our cooks. And nevertheless with all
this showing off, no entire dish finds favour, only the
haunch or in other cases the breast being esteemed.

LXXII. Aviaries with cages containing all kinds Ca^e-birds
of birds were first set up by Marcus Laenius Strabo Caries.
of the Order of Knighthood at Brindisi. From him
began our practice of imprisoning within bars living
creatures to which Nature had assigned the open sky.
Nevertheless the most remarkable instance in this
record is the dish belonging to the tragic actor
Clodius Aesop, rated at the value of 100,000 sesterces,
in which he served birds that sang some particular
song or talked with human speech, which he acquired
at the price of 6000 sesterces apiece, led by no
other attraction except the desire to indulge in a
sort of cannibalism in eating these birds, and not even
showing any respect for that lavish fortune of his,
even though won by his voice — in fact a worthy father
of a son whom we have spoken of a as swallowing
pearls, though not so much so as to make me wish to
give a true decision in the competition in baseness
between the two, unless in so far as it is a smaller
thing to have dined on the most bounteous resources
of Nature than on the tongues of men.

383

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

143 LXXIII. Generatio avium simplex videtur esse,
cum et ipsa habeat sua miracula, quoniam et quad-
ripedes ova gignunt, chamaeleontes, lacertae et quae
diximus in aquatilibus,1 item serpentes. penna-
torum autem infecunda sunt quae aduncos habent
ungues. cenchris sola ex his supra quaterna edit ova.
tribuit hoc avium generi natura ut fecundiores essent
fugaces earum quam fortes ; plurima pariunt strutho-
cameli, gallinae, perdices soli, coitus avibus duo-
bus modis, femina considente humi ut in gallinis
aut stante ut in gruibus.

144 LXXIV. Ovorum aHa sunt Candida, ut columbis,
perdicibus, alia pallida, ut aquaticis, alia punctis
distincta, ut meleagridum, alia rubri coloris, ut
phasianis, cenchridi. intus autem onme ovum
volucrum bicolor, aquaticis lutei plus quam albi,
idque ipsum magis luridum quam ceteris; piscium

145 unus color, in quo nihil candidi. avium ova ex
calore fragilia, serpentium ex frigore lenta, piscium
ex liquore mollia. aquatilium rotunda, reliqua fere
fastigio cacuminata. exeunt a rotundissima sui
parte, dum pariuntur, molli putamine sed protinus
durescente quibuscumque emergunt portionibus.
quae oblonga sint ova gratioris saporis putat Horatius
Flaccus. feminam edunt quae rotundiora gignun-

1 in aq.uatilib-as add. Mueller.

* IX 37, 78. 6 Sat. II. 4. 12.

3*4

BOOK X. LXXIII. i43-Lxxiv. 145

LXXIII. The reproductive system of birds appears Ma*mg of
to be simple, although even this possesses marvels hrds'
of its own, since even four-footed creatures produce
eggs — chamaeleons and lizards and those we have
specified a among aquatic species, and also snakes.
But among feathered creatures those that have hooked
talons are unfertile. Of these only the lesser kestrel
produces more than four eggs at a time. Nature
has bestowed on the bird kind the attribute that the
species among them that are shy are more prolific
than the brave ones ; only ostriches, hens and par-
tridges bear very numerous broods. Birds have two
methods of coupling, the hen sitting on the ground
as in the case of the domestic fowl or standing up as
in the case of the crane.

LXXIV. The eggs are in some cases white, as Colours and
with the dove and partridge, in others pale-coloured, s^f8 °*
as with waterfowl, in others spotted, as those of the
guinea-hen, in others of a red colour, as in the case of
the pheasant and the lesser kestrel. The inside of
every bird's egg is of two colours ; in that of the
aquatic birds there is more yellow than white, and
that yellow is brighter than with the other species.
Fishes' eggs are of one colour, which contains no
bright white. Birds' eggs are made easily breakable
by heat, snakes' eggs are made flexible by cold, and
fishes' eggs are softened by liquid. Aquatic species
have round eggs, but almost all others oval-shaped
ones. They are laid with their roundest pait in
front, the shell of whatever portions they emerge
with being soft but becoming hard immediately
after the process. Long-shaped eggs are thought
by Horace* to have a more agreeable flavour. Eggs
of a rounder formation produce a hen chicken and

385

VOL. III. C C

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tur, reliqua marem. umbilicus ovis a cacumine inest,
ceu gutta eminens in putamine.

146 Quaedam omni tempore coeunt, ut gallinae, et
pariunt praeterquam duobus mensibus hiemis bruma-
libus. ex his iuvencae plura quam veteres sed
minora, et 1 in eodem fetu prima ac novissima. est
autem tanta fecunditas ut aliquae et sexagena
parient, aliquae cotidie, aliquae bis die, aliquae in

147 tantiim ut eifetae moriantur. Hadrianis laus max-
ima, columbae deciens anno pariunt, quaedam et
undeciens, in Aegypto vero etiam brumali mense.
hirundines et merulae et palumbi et turtures bis anno
pariunt, ceterae aves fere semeL turdi in cacu-
minibus arborum luto nidificantes paene contextim,
in secessu generant. a coitu decem diebus ova
maturescunt in utero, vexatis autem gallinae et
columbae pinna evulsa aliave simili iniuria diutius.

148 omnibus ovis medio vitelli parva inest velut san-
guinea gutta, quod esse cor avium existimant,
primum in omni corpore id gigni opinantes : in ovo
certe gutta ea salit palpitatque. ipsum animal ex
albo liquore ovi corporatur ; cibus eius in luteo est.
omnibus initio 2 caput maius toto corpore, oculi
compressi capite maiores. increscente pullo candor

149 in medium vertitur, luteum circumfunditur. vicen-
simo die si moveatur ovum, iam viventis intra puta-

1 et -(minima V in ? Rodham.

2 initio ? ex Aristotde MayJioff : intus.

a Near Venice, on the coast of the sea named after it. We
learn elsewhere that the birds were bantams.

386

BOOK X. LXXIV. 145-149

the rest a cock. The navel in eggs is at the top end,
projecting like a speck in the shell.

Some birds mate in any season, for instance sec

domestic fowl, and lay, except in the two midwinter Mod&cf'
months. Of these kinds the young hens lay more ^ff^
eggs than the old, but smaller ones, and in the same Physioiojy
brood those laid first and last are the smallest. But °fthee9S-
they are so fertile that some even lay eggs sixty
times, some lay daily, some twice daily, some so
much that they die of exhaustion, Adria a birds
are most highly spoken of, Pigeons lay ten times
a year, some even eleven times, while in Egypt
they even lay in a midwinter month. Swallows and
blackbirds and woodpigeons and turtle-doves lay twice
a year, all other birds as a rule only once. Thrushes
build their nests of mud in an almost continuous
mass on the tops of trees, and breed in retirement.
The eggs grow to full size in the uterus in ten days
from pairing, but in the case of the domestic fowl
and the pigeon, if the hen is disturbed by having a
feather torn out or by some similar damage, it takes
longer. In all eggs the middle of the yolk contains a
small drop of a sort of blood, which people think is the
heart of birds, supposing that the heart is the first
part that is produced in every body: in an egg
undoubtedly this drop beats and throbs. The animal
itself is formed out of the white of the egg, but its
food is in the yolk.6 In all cases at the beginning
the head is larger than the whole body, and the eyes,
which are pressed together, are larger than the head.
As the chick grows in size the white turns to the
middle and the yolk spreads round it. If on the
twentieth day the egg be moved, the voice of the

8 Actually it is both the yolk and tile white.

38?
cc2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

men vox auditur. ab eodem tempore plumescit, ita
positus ut caput supra dextrum pedem habeat,
dextram vero alam supra caput. vitellus paulatim
deficit, aves omnes in pedes nascuntur, contra

150 quam reliqua animalia. quaedam gallinae omnia
gemina ova pariunt et geminos interdum excludunt,
ut Cornelius Celsus auctor est, alterum maiorem;
aliqui negant omnino geminos excludi. plus vicena
quina incubanda subici vetant. parere a bruma
incipiunt ; optima fetura ante vernum aequinoctium :
post solstitium nata non implent magnitudinem
iustam, tantoque minus quanto serius provenere.

151 LXXV. Ova incubari intra decem dies edita
utilissimum ; vetera aut recentiora mfecunda. subici
impari numero debent. quarto die postquam coepere
incubari, si contra lumen cacumine ovorum adpre-
henso ima 1 manu pums et uniusmodi perluceat color,
sterilia existimantur esse proque eis alia substituenda.
et in aqua est experimentum : inane fluitat, itaque
sidentia, hoc est plena, subici volunt. concuti vero
experimento vetant, quoniam non gignant confusis

152 vitalibus venis. incubationi datur initium decima
demum 2 post novam lunam, quia prius inchoata non
proveniant. celerius excluduntur calidis diebus;
ideo aestate undevicensimo educent fetum, hieme
xxv, si incubitu tonuit, ova pereunt, et accipitris

1 v.l. una. 2 decima demum add. e Columdla MayJioff.

0 Romans called the day after an event secunda dies and
tl^e day after that t&rtia.

388

BOOK X. LXXIV. 149-LXXv. 152

chick already alive is heard inside the shell. At the
same time it begins to grow feathers, its posture
being such that it has its head above its right foot
but its right wing above its head. The yolk gradually
disappears. All birds are born feet first, the opposite
way to the remaining animals. Some domestic hens
lay all their eggs in pairs, and according to Cornelius
Celsus occasionally hatch twin chicks, one larger
than the other; though some assert that twin
chicks are never hatched out. They lay down a
rule that the hen should not be required to sit on
more than 25 eggs at a time. Hens begin to lay at
midwinter, and breed best before the spring equinox:
chickens born after midsummer do not attain the
proper size, and the later they are hatched the more
they fall short of it.

LXXV. It pays best for eggs to be sat on within Rules for
ten days of laying ; older or fresher ones are infertile. J
An odd number should be put under the hen. If
three days after they began to be sat on the top of
the eggs held in the tips of the fingers against the
light shows a transparent colour of a single hue, the
eggs are judged to be barren, and others should be
substituted for them. They may also be tested in
water : an empty egg floats, and consequently people
prefer eggs that sink, that is, are full, to put under
the hens. But they warn against their being tested
by shaking, on the ground that if the vital veins are
displaced the eggs are sterile. The ninth « day after
a new mo6n is assigned for starting a hen's sitting,
as eggs begun earlier do not hatch out. The chicks
are hatched more quickly when the days are warm,
and consequently eggs will hatch out in 18 days in
summer but 24 in winter. If it thunders while the

389

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

audita voce vitiantur; remedium contra tonitrus
clavus ferreus sub stramine ovorum positus aut terra

153 ex aratro. quaedam autem et citra incubitum
sponte natura1 gignit,2 ut in Aegypti fimetis.
scitum de quodam potore reperitur Syracusis tamdiu
potare solitum donee cooperta terra fetum ederent
ova.

154 LXXVI. Quin et ab homine perficiuntur. lulia
Augusta prima sua iuventa Ti. Caesare ex Nerone
gravida, cum parere virilem sexum admodum cuperet,
hoc usa est puellari augurio, ovum in sinu fovendo
atque, cum deponendum haberet, nutrici per sinum
tradendo ne intermitteretur tepor; nee falso augu-
rata proditur. nuper inde fortassis inventum ut ova
calido in loco imposita paleis igne modico foverentur
homine versante, pariterque et stato die vivus 3

155 erumperet fetus, traditur quaedam ars gallinarii
cuiusdam dicentis quod ex quaque esset. narrantur
et mortua gallina mariti earum visi succendentes in
vicem et reliqua fetae more facientes abstinentesque
se cantu. super omnia est anatum ovis subditis
atque exclusis admiratio prima non plane agnoscentis

1 naturae Men. 2 v.l. gigmint.

3 vivus ? MayJioff : milium aut ifii-nc.

a livia Drusilla was thus styled after her marriage with,
Augustus. Her first husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero, was
the father of the Emperor Tiberius.

390

BOOK X. LXXV. 152-Lxxvi. 155

hen is sitting the eggs die, and if she hears the cry
of a hawk they go bad. A remedy against thunder
is an iron nail placed under the straw in which the
eggs lie, or some earth from the plough. In some
cases Nature hatches of her own accord even without
the hen sitting, as on the dunghills of Egypt. We
find a clever story about a certain toper at Syracuse,
that he used to go on drinking for as long a time as it
would take for eggs covered with earth to produce a
hatch.

LXXVI. Moreover eggs can be hatched even by £irth-controi
a human being. Julia Augusta a in her early woman- {
hood was with child with Tiberius Caesar by Nero, p
and being specially eager to a bear a baby of the
male sex she employed the following method of
prognostication used by girls — she cherished an egg
in her bosom and when she had to lay it aside passed
it to a nurse under the folds of their dresses, so that
the warmth might not be interrupted ; and it is said
that her prognostication came true. It was perhaps
from this that the method was lately invented of
placing eggs in chaff in a warm place and cherishing
them with a moderate fire} with somebody to keep
turning them over, with the result that all the live
brood breaks the shell at once on a fixed day. It is
recorded that a certain poultry-keeper had a
scientific method of telling which egg was from which
hen. It is related also that when a hen has died the
cocks of the farmyard have been seen taking on her
duties in turn and generally behaving in the manner
of a broody hen, and abstaining from crowing.
Above all things is the behaviour of a hen when ducks'
eggs have been put under her and have hatched out
—first her surprise when she does not quite recognize

391

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

fetum, mox incerti singultus sollicite convocantis,
postremo lamenta circa piscinae stagna mergentibus
se pullis natura duce.

156 LXXVTI. Gallinarum generositas spectatur crista
recta, interim et gemina, pennis nigris, ore rubicundo,
digitis inparibus, aliquando et super quattuor digitos
traverse uno. ad rem divinam luteo rostro pedi-
busque purae non videntur, ad opertanea sacra
nigrae. est et pumilionum genus non sterile in his,
quod non in alio genere alitum, sed quibus certa x
fecunditas rara et incubatio ovis noxia.

LXXVIII. Inimicissima autem omni2 generi pitu-
ita, maximeque inter messis ac vindemiae tempus.

157 medicina in fame et cubitus in fumo, utique si e lauru
aut herba sabina fiat, penna per traversas inserta
nares et per omnes dies mota, cibus alium cum farre,
aut aqua perfusus in qua maduerit noctua aut cum
semine vitis albae coctus, ac quaedam alia.

158 LXXIX. Columbae proprio ritu osculantur ante
coitum. pariunt fere bina ova, ita natura moderante
ut aliis crebrior sit fetus, aliis numerosior. palumbus
et turtur plurimum terna nee plus quam bis vere
pariunt, atque ita ut,3 si prior fetus corruptus est, et
quamvis tria pepererint, numquam plus duobus
educant; tertium quod inritum est urinum vocant.

1 v.ll. contra, centra. 2 Mayhoff : omnium.

3 ut add. Dettefsen.

0 Sacrifices to the Bona Dea.
392

BOOK X. LXXVI. i55~Lxxix. 158

her brood, then her puzzled sobs as she anxiously
calls them to her, and finally her lamentations round
the margin of the pond when the chicks under the
guidance of instinct take to the water.

LXXVII. Marks of good breeding in hens are an signs of
upstanding comb, which is occasionally double, ^1*™
black feathers, red beak, and uneven claws, some-
times one lying actually across the four others.
Fowls with yellow beak and feet seem not to be un-
blemished for purposes of religion, and black ones
for the mystery rites. a Even the dwarf variety is
not sterile in the case of the domestic fowl, which is
not the case in any other breeds of birds, though
with the dwarf fowl reliability in laying is unusual,
and sitting on the eggs is harmful to the hen.

LXXVIII. But the worst enemy of every kind is Poultry
the pip, and especially between the time of harvest disease-
and vintage. The cure is in hunger, and they must
lie in smoke, at all events if it be produced from
bay-leaves or savin, a feather being inserted right
through the nostrils and shifted daily; diet garlic
mixed with spelt, either steeped in water in which
an owl has been dipped or else boiled with white
vine seed, and certain other substances.

LXXIX. Pigeons go through a special ceremony Mating of
of kissing before mating. They usually lay two eggs
at a time, nature so regulating as to make some
produce larger chicks and others more numerous.
The woodpigeon and the turtle-dove lay at most
three eggs at a time, and never more than twice in a
spring, and keeping a rule that, if the former lay goes
bad, even although they lay three eggs they never
rear more than two chicks ; the third egg, which is
unfertile, they call a wind-egg. The hen wood-

393

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

palumbis incubat femina post meridianam 1 in

159 matutinum, cetero mas. columbae marem semper
et feminam pariunt, priorem marem, postridie
feminam. incubant in eo genere ambo, interdiu mas,
noctu femina. excludunt xx die, pariunt a coitu V.
aestate quidem interdum binis mensibus terna
educunt paria, namque xvin die excludunt statim-
que concipiunt; quare inter pullos saepe ova in-
veniuntur et alii provolant, alii erumpunt. ipsi

160 deinde pulli quinquemenstres fetificant. et ipsae
autem inter se, si mas non sit, feminae aeque saliunt,
pariuntque ova inrita ex quibus nihil gignitur, quae
hypenemia Graeci vocant.

161 Pavo a trimatu parit. primo anno unum aut
alterum ovum, sequent! quaterna quinave, eeteris
duodena, non amplius, intermittens binos dies
ternosve parit, et ter anno, si gallinis subiciantur
incubanda. mares ea frangunt desiderio incuban-
tium ; quapropter noctu et in latebris pariunt aut in
excelso cubantes, et nisi molli strato excepta fran-
guntur. mares singuli quinis sufficiunt coniugibus;
cum singulae aut binae fuere, corrumpitur salacitate
fecunditas. partus excluditur diebus ter novenis,
aut tardius tricensimo.

1 Mayhoff? : meridiana.
394

BOOK X. LXXIX. 158-161

pigeon sits from noon till the next morning and the
cock the rest of the time. Pigeons always lay a
male and a female egg, the male first and the female
a day later. In this species both birds sit, the cock
in the daytime and the hen at night. They hatch in
about three weeks, and they lay four days after
mating. In summer indeed they sometimes produce
three pairs of chickens every two months, for they
hatch on the 17th a day and breed immediately;
consequently eggs are often found among the
chickens, and some are beginning to fly just when
others are breaking the egg. Then the chicks them-
selves begin laying when five months old. However
in the absence of a cock hen birds actually mate with
one another indifferently, and produce unfertile
eggs from which nothing is produced, which the
Greeks call wind-eggs.

The peahen begins to lay when three months Mating of
old. In the first year it lays one egg or a second
one, but in the following year four or five at a time,
and in the remaining years twelve at a time, but not
more, with intervals of two or three days between
the eggs, and three times in the year, provided that
the eggs are put under farmyard hens to sit on. The
male peacock breaks the eggs, out of desire for the
female sitting on them; consequently the hen bird
lays at night, and in hiding or when perching on a
high place — and unless the eggs are caught on a bed
of straw they are broken. One cock can serve five
hens, and when there have been only one or two
hens for each cock their fertility is spoiled by its
salaciousness. The chickens are hatched in 27 days
or at latest on the 29th.

0 See note ° on c. LXXV.

395

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

162 Anseres in aqua coeunt, pariunt vere aut, si bruma
coiere, post solstitium, XL prope, bis anno si priorem
fetum gallinae excludant, alio plurima ova sedecim,
paucissima septem. si quis subripiat, pariunt donee

163 rumpantur. aliena non excludunt. incubanda
subici utilissimum novem aut undecim. incubant
ferninae tantum tricenis diebus, si vero tepidiores
sint, xxv. pullis eorum urtica contactu mortifera,
nee minus aviditas, mine satietate nimia, nunc
suamet vi, quando adprehensa radice morsu saepe
conantes avellere ante colla sua abrumpunt.
contra urticam remedium est stramento ab incubitu
subdita radix earum.

164 Ardeolarum tria genera: leucon, asterias, pellos.
hi in coitu anguntur : mares quidem cum vociferatu
sanguinem etiam ex oculis profundunt; nee minus

165 aegre pariunt gravidae. aquila tricenis diebus
incubatj et fere maiores alites, minores vicenis, ut
milvus et accipiter. milvus binos 1 fere parit, num-
quam plus ternos, is qui aegolios vocatur et quaternos,
corvus aliquando et quinos ; incubant totidem diebus.
cornicem incubantem mas pascit. pica novenos,
melancoryphus supra xx parit, semper numero
inpari, nee alia plures : tanto fecunditas maior parvis.

1 Gesner : accipiter. singulos.

a These are tlte egret, tlie bittern (taurus, § 116) and the
grey heron.

* Perhaps the cole-tit or marsh-tit; our blackcap lays few
eggs.

396

BOOK X. LXXIX. 162-165

Geese mate in the water; they lay in spring, QIC Mating of
if they mated in midwinter, after midsummer ; they seae'
lay nearly 40 eggs, twice in a year if the hens turn the
first brood out of the nest, otherwise sixteen eggs
at the most and seven at the fewest. If somebody
removes the eggs, they go on laying till they burst.
They do not turn strange eggs out of the nest. It
pays best to put nine or eleven eggs for them to sit
on. The hens sit only 30 days at a time, or if the
days are rather warm, 25. The touch of a nettle
is fatal to goslings, and not less so is their greediness,
sometimes owing to their excessive gorging and
sometimes owing to their own violence, when they
have caught hold of a root in their beak and in their
repeated attempts to tear it off break their own necks
before they succeed. A nettle-root put under their
straw after they have lain in it is a cure for nettle-
sting*

There are three kinds of heron, the white, the Mating of
speckled and the dark.a These birds suffer pain ^fa'm&s
in mating, indeed the cocks give loud screams and
even shed blood from their eyes ; and the broody
hens lay their eggs with equal difficulty. The eagle
sits on her eggs for thirty days at a time, and so do
the larger birds for the most part, but the smaller
ones, for instance the kite and hawk, sit for twenty
days. A kite's brood usually numbers two chicks,
never more than three, that of the bird called the
merlin as many as four, and the raven's occasionally
even five ; they sit for the same number of days.
The hen crow is fed by the cock while sitting. The
magpie's brood numbers nine, the blackcap's 6 over
twenty and always an odd number, and no other
bird has a larger brood: so much more prolific are

397

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

hirundini caeci primo pulli sunt et fere omnibus
quibus numerosior fetus.

166 LXXX. Inrita ova, quae hypenemia diximus, aut
mutua feminae inter se libidinis imaginatione
concipiunt aut pulvere, nee columbae tantum, sed et
gallinae, perdices, pavones, anseres, chenalopeces.
sunt autem sterilia, et minora ac minus iucundi
saporis et magis umida. quidam et vento putant ea
generari, qua de causa etiam zephyria appellantur ;
urina autem vere tantum faint incubatione derelicta,

167 quae alii cynosura dixere. ova aceto macerata in
tantum emolHuntur ut per anulos transeant. servari
ea in lomento aut hieme in paleis} aestate furfuribus
utilissimum ; sale exinaniri creduntur.

168 LXXXI. Volucrum animal parit vespertilio
tantum, cui et membranae ceu pennae ; eadem sola
volucrum lacte nutrit ubera admovens. parit1 gemi-
nos; volitat amplexa infantes secumque portat.
eidem coxendix una traditur esse.2 in cibatu culices
gratissimi.

169 LXXXII. Rursus in terrestribus ova pariunt
serpentes, de quibus nondum dictum est. coeunt
complexu, adeo circumvolutae sibi ipsae ut una

Mueller : parens. 2 Mayhoff : traditur et.

0 See § 160.

398

BOOK X. LXXIX. i65~LXxxii. 169

the small species. A swallow's first chicks are blind,
as are those of almost all species that have a com-
paratively large brood.

LXXX. Unfertile eggs, which we have designated a Wind-eggs.
wind-eggs, are conceived by the hen birds mating
together in a pretence of sexual intercourse, or else
from dust, and not only by hen pigeons but also by
farmyard hens, partridges, peahens, geese and ducks.
But these eggs are sterile, and of smaller size and
less agreeable flavour, and more watery. Some
people think they are actually generated by the
wind, for which reason they are also called Zephyr's
eggs; but wind-eggs are only produced in spring,
when the hens have left off sitting : another name
for them is addle-eggs. When steeped in vinegar
eggs become so much softer that they can be passed
through rings. It pays best to keep them in bean
meal, or else chaff in winter and bran in summer ;
it is believed that keeping them in salt drains them
quite empty.

LXXXI. The only viviparous creature that flies The bat.
is the bat, which actually has membranes like wings ;
it is also the only flyer that nourishes its young with
milk, bringing them to its teats. It bears twins,
and flits about with its children in its arms, carrying
them with it. The bat is said to have a single hip-
bone. Gnats are its favourite fodder.

LXXXII. On the other hand among land animals, Mating of
the snake is oviparous ; we have not yet described J
this species. Snakes mate by embracing, inter-
twining so closely that they could be taken to be a
single animal with two heads. The male viper
inserts its head into the female viper's mouth, and
the female is so enraptured with pleasure that she

399

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

existimari biceps possit. viperae mas caput inserit

170 in os, quod ilia abrodit voluptatis dulcedihe. ter-
restrium eadem sola intra se parit ova unius coloris
et mollia ut pisces. tertio die intra uterum catulos
excludit, dein singulis diebus singulos parit, xx fere
numero ; itaque ceteri tarditatis inpatientes perrum-
punt latera occisa parente. ceterae serpentes
contexta ova in terra incubant, et fetum sequent!
excludunt anno, crocodili vicibus incubant, mas et
femina.

Sed reliquorum quoque terrestrium reddatur
generatio.

171 LXXXIIL Bipedum solus homo animal gignit.
homini tantum primi coitus paenitentia, augurium
scilicet vitae a paenitenda origine. ceteris animali-
bus stati per tempora anni concubitus, homini, ut
dictum est, omnibus horis dierum noctiumque.

172 ceteris satias in coitu, homini prope nulla ; Messalina
Claudii Caesaris coniunx regalem hanc existimans
palmam elegit in id certamen nobilissimam e prosti-
tutis ancillam mercenariae stipis, eswaque nocte ac
die superavit quinto atque vicensimo concubitu.
in hominum genere maribus deverticula veneris
excogitata omnia, scelera1 naturae, feminis vero
abortus, quantum in hac parte multo nocentiores
quam ferae sumus I viros avidiores veneris hieme,
feminas aestate Hesiodus prodidit.

1 v.L acelere.

fl AT. Probl* IV, 8779, Ata ri at veot orav -jr/xGrov d
ap^covrat, ols av ojn-tA^crcocri, /xera. rrjp irpa^iv Ln-aovcriv.
b VII 38.
c Works and Days 586,

400

BOOK X. LXXXII. i69-LXXxin. 172

gnaws it off. The viper is the only land animal that
bears eggs inside it ; they are of one colour and soft
like fishes' roe. After two days she hatches the
young inside her uterus, and then bears them at the
rate of one a day, to the number of about twenty ; the
consequence is that the remaining ones get so tired
of the delay that they burst open their mother's
sides, so committing matricide. All the other kinds
of snakes incubate their eggs in a clutch on the
ground, and hatch out the young in the following year.
Crocodiles take turns to incubate, male and female.

But let us give an account of the mode of repro-
duction of the remaining land animals as well.

LXXXIII. Man is the only viviparous biped.
Man is the only animal with which mating for the
first time is followed by repugnance/ which is doubt-
less an augury of life as sprung from regrettable
source. All the other animals have fixed seasons of
the year for mating, but man, as has been said,& mates
at every hour of the day and night. All the others
experience satiety in coupling, but with man this is
almost entirely absent. Claudius Caesar's consort
Messalina, thinking that this would be a truly regal
triumph, selected for a competition in it a certain
maid who was the most notorious of the professional
prostitutes, and beat her in a twenty-four hours7
match, with a score of twenty-five. In the human
race the males have devised every out-of-the-way
form of sexual indulgence, crimes against nature,
but the females have invented abortion. How much
more guilty are we in this department than the
wild animals! Hesiodc has stated that men have
stronger sexual appetites in winter and women in
summer.

401
VOL. in. D D

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

173 Coitus aversis elephantis, camelis, tigribus, lyncibus,
rhinoceroti, leoni, dasypodi, cuniculis, quibus aversa
genitalia. cameli etiam solitudines aut secreta certe
petunt, neque intervenire datur sine pernicie ; coitus
toto die, et his tantum ex omnibus, quibus solida
ungula in quadrupedum genere, mares olfactus
accendit, avertuntur et canes, phocae, lupi in medio 1

174 coitu invitique 2 etiam cohaerent. supra dictorum
dasypodum 3 plerumque feminae priores super-
veniunt, in reliquis mares; ursi aut em, ut dictum
est, humanitus4 strati, irenacei stantes ambo inter
se complexi, feles mare stante, femina subiacente,
vulpes in latera proiectae maremque femina amplexa.
taurorum cervorumque feminae vim non tolerant ;
ea de causa ingrediuntur in coitu.5 cervi vicissim ad
alias transeunt et ad priores redeunt. lacertae ut
ea quae sine pedibus sunt circumflexu venerem
novere.

175 Omnia aninaalia quo maiora corpore hoc minus
fecunda. singulos gignunt elephanti, cameli, equi;
acanthis duodenos, avis minima, ocissime pariunt
quae plurumos gignunt ; quo maius est animal, tanto
diutius formatur in utero ; diutius gestantur quibus
longiora sunt vitae spatia. neque crescentium tem-

176 pestiva ad generandum aetas. quae solidas habent

1 Rackham: medioque.

2 inviti Urlichs.

3 dasypodum add. ex Ar. Mueller.

4 humi secundum Ar. Pintianus.

5 Qelen : conceptu.

402

BOOK X. LXXXIII. 173-176

Species with the genital organs behind them,
elephants, camels, tigers, lynxes, the rhinoceros, the
lion, the hairy-footed and the common rabbit coupling.
couple back to back. Camels even make for
deserts or else places certain to be secret, and
one is not allowed to interrupt them without disas-
ter ; the coupling lasts a whole day, and this is the
case with these alone of all animals. With the
solid-hooved species in the quadruped class the
males are excited by scenting the female. Also
dogs, seals and wolves turn away in the middle of
coupling and still remain coupled against their will.
Among the above-mentioned a species, of hares the
females usually cover first, but with all the others the
males; but bears, as was said, couple, like human
beings, lying down, hedgehogs both standing up and
embracing each other, cats with the male standing
and the female lying beneath it, foxes lying down on
their sides and the female embracing the male.
Cows and does resent the violence of the bulls and
stags, and consequently walk forward in pairing.
Stags pass across to other hinds and return to the
former ones alternately. Lizards like the creatures
without feet practise intercourse by intertwining.

All animals are less fertile the larger they are in fertility
bulk. Elephants, camels and horses produce off-^^y
spring one at a time, but the thistle-finch, the smallest *a» size
of birds, twelve at a time. Those that produce most *
young bear them most quickly ; the larger the animal,
the longer it takes to be shaped in the womb ; the
more long-lived ones are carried longer by the
mother. Also animals are not of an age suitable for
procreation while they are still growing. Solid-

403

DD2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ungulas singulos, quae bisulcas et geminos pariunt;
quorum in digitos pedum fissura divisa est, et l
numerosiora in fetu. sed superiora omnia perfectos
edunt partuSj haec inchoatos, in quo sunt genere
leaenae, ursae ; et vulpes informe etiam magis quam
supradicta parit, rarumque est videre parientem.
postea lambendo calefaciunt fetus omnia ea et
177 figurant, pariunt plurimum quaternos. caecos
autem gignunt canes, lupi, pantherae, thoes.

Canum plura genera. Laconicae octavo mense
utrumque generant; ferunt sexaginta diebus et
plurimum tribus. ceterae canes et semenstres
coitum patiuntur. inplentur omnes uno coitu.
quae ante iustum tempus concepere diutius caecos
habent catulos, et omnes totidem diebus. existi-
mantur in urina attollere crus fere semenstres ; id est
signum consummati virium roboris. feminae hoc
178 idem sidentes. partus duodeni quibus numerosis-
simi, cetero quini, seni, aliquando singuli, quod pro-
digiosum putant, sicut omnes mares aut omnes
feminas gigni. primos quosque mares pariunt, in
ceteris alternant, ineuntur a partu sexto mense.
octonos Laconicae pariunt. propria in eo genere
maribus laboris alacritas.2 vivunt Laconici anni
denis, feminae duodenis, cetera genera xv aliquando

1 Mayhoff : e. 2 edd. : labore salacitas.

404

BOOK X. LXXXIII. 176-178

hoofed animals bear one child at a time, those with
cloven hooves also bear two, but those whose feet
are divided into separate toes also produce a larger
number. But whereas all those above bear their species bom
offspring fully formed, these produce them Un-*mw^uw-
finished — in this class being lionesses and bears ; and
a fox bears its young in an even more unfinished
state than the species above-mentioned, and it is
rare to see one in the act of giving birth. After-
wards all these species warm their offspring and shape
them by licking them. Their litters number four at
the most. Dogs, wolves, panthers and jackals bear
their young blind.

There are several kinds of dogs. The Spartan Breeding
hounds breed when both sexes are seven months
old ; the bitches carry for 60 days, and 63 at most.
The bitches of the other breeds are willing to couple,
even when six months old. They all conceive from
a single coupling. Those that are bred from before
the proper time have puppies that stay blind longer,
and all of them for the same number of days. They
are believed to raise the leg in making water when
about six months old ; this is a sign of fully matured
strength. Bitches relieve themselves sitting. The
most prolific have litters of twelve, but usually
they have five or six, and sometimes only one : this
is considered portentous, as are litters that are all
males or all females. Male puppies are born first
in each litter, whereas in all other animals the sexes
come in turns. Bitches couple five months after their
last litter. The Spartan hounds have litters of eight.
The males of that breed are marked by keenness for
work. Spartan dog hounds live ten years, bitches
twelve ; all the other breeds live fifteen years, some-

405

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

et xx3 nee tota sua aetate generality fere a duodecimo
desinentes.

179 Felium et ichneumonum reliqua ut canum ; vivunt
annis denis.1 dasypodes omni mense pariunt, et
superfetant, sicut lepores ; a partu statim implentur.
concipiunt quamvis ubera siccante fetu; pariunt
vero 2 caecos. elephanti, ut diximus, pariunt sin-
gulos magnitudine vituli trimenstris. cameli duo-
decim mensibus ferunt, a trimatu pariunt vere

180 iterumque post annum implentur a partu. equas
autem post tertium demum aut post unum ab enixu
utiliter admitti putant ; coguntque invitas. asinas 3
et septimo 4 die concipere facillime creditur. equa-
rum iubas tondere praecipiunt ut asinorum coitum
patiantur humilitate, comantes enim gloria superbire.
a coitu solae animalium currunt exadversus aquilo-
nem austrumve prout marem aut feminam concepere.
colorem ilico mutant rubriore pilo vel quicunaque sit
pleniore : hoc argumento desinunt admittere, etiam
volentes.5 nee impedit partus quasdam ab opere,
falluntque gravidae. vicisse Olympia praegnantem

LSI Echecratidis Thessali invenimus. equos et canes et
sues initum matutinum adpetere, feminas autem
post meridiem blandiri diligentiores tradunt; equas

1 Brotier: senis. 2 Hardouin: non.

3 asinas add. Pintiamis.

* Mueller : et mulier septimo.

5 v.L nolentes.

« The MSS. give ' six.' * VTII 28.

406

BOOK X. LXXXIII. 178-181

times even twenty. But they do not breed all their
lives, ceasing usually at the age of twelve.

The cat and the mongoose resemble dogs in other Breeding
respects, but their length of life is ten a years. Rab- Jj^
bits breed in every month of the year, and superfetate, *p«rf«.
as do hares ; after giving birth they pah* again at once.
They conceive although still suckling their previous
litter, but the young are blind. Elephants, as we
have said,6 bear one young one at a time, of the size
of a three months old calf. Camels carry their young
twelve months ; they begin breeding at the age of
three, in the spring, and mate again a year after giving
birth. Mares on the other hand are believed not to Sone-
be profitably shred till three years old, and not before re ing'
a year after their last foaling; when they are un-
willing, compulsion is used. It is believed that she-
asses conceive quite easily even a week after delivery.
It is said that mares' manes ought to be clipped to
make them submit to allow coupling with asses, as
having long manes makes them proud andhigh-sphited.
Mares are the only animals that after coupling run
in a northerly or southerly direction according as they
have conceived a male or a female foal. Immediately
afterwards they change the colour of their coat for a
deeper red or a darker hue of whatever their colour
is: this marks their ceasing to be able to couple,
even if willing to do so. Some are not hindered from
work by foaling, and are in foal without its being
known. We find it on record that a mare in foal
belonging to a Thessalian named Echecratides
won a race at Olympia. It is stated by excep-
tionally careful authorities that horses, dogs and
swine like mating in the morning, but that the
females make approaches in the afternoon; that

407

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

domitas sexaginta diebus equire ante quam "gregales ;
sues tantrum in 1 coitu spumam ore fundere ; verrem
subantis audita voce, ni admittatur, cibum non cap ere
usque in maciem, feminas autem in tantum eiferari
ut hominem lancinent, Candida maxime veste
indutum. rabies ea aceto mitigatur naturae asperse.

182 aviditas coitus putatur et cibis fieri, sicut viro eruca,
pecori caepa. quae ex feris mitigentur non conci-
pere, ut anseres, apros vero tarde et cervos nee nisi
ab infantia educates mirum est. quadripedum
praegnantes venerem arcent praeter equam et suem ;
sed superfetant dasypus et lepus tantum.

183 LXXXIV. Quaecumque animal pariunt in capita
gignunt circumacto fetu sub enixum alias in utero
porrecto. quadripedes gestantur extensis ad longi-
tudinem cruribus et ad alvum suam applicatis, homo
in semet conglobatus inter duo genua naribus sitis.

184 molas, de quibus ante diximus, gigni putant ubi
mulier non ex mare verum ex semetipsa tantum
conceperit ; ideo nee am'mari quia non sit ex duobus3
altricemque habere per se vitam iUam quae satis
arboribusque contingat. ex omnibus quae per-
fectos fetus sues tantum et numerosos edunt,

1 in add. ? Mayhoff.

* The eye-cavities in the human face were supposed to be
created by the pressure of the knees in the womb

* VII 63.

408

BOOK X. LXXXIII. i8i-Lxxxiv. 184

mares that have been broken are in heat 60 days
sooner than those running with the herd ; that swine
only foam at the mouth when mating ; that when a
boar-pig has heard a sow in heat grunting it refuses
food to the point of losing flesh entirely unless it is ad-
mitted to her, while sows get so fierce that they will
gore a human being, especially one wearing white
clothes. This madness can be reduced by sprinkling
the organs with vinegar. It is believed that desire
for mating is also stimulated by articles of diet, for
instance rocket in the case of a man and onions in the
case of cattle. It is a remarkable fact that wild species
when domesticated refuse to breed, for instance wild
geese, and wild boars and stags do so reluctantly and
only if they have been reared from infancy. Female
animals refuse intercourse when pregnant, except
the mare and the sow ; but only the common rabbit
and the hairy-footed rabbit allow superfetation.

LXXXIV. All viviparous species produce their Posture of
young head foremost, the embryo turning round 2*
shortly before delivery, but otherwise lying stretched
at length in the womb. Four-footed species are
carried with the legs stretched out to full length and
folded against their own belly, but the human embryo
curled up in a ball, with the nostrils placed between
the two knees. a It is thought that moon calves,
about which we have spoken before,6 are produced
when a woman has conceived not from a male but
from herself alone, and that they do not come
alive because they are not produced from two parents,
and they possess the self-nourishing vitality that
belongs to plants and trees. Of all the species
bearing fully developed offspring pigs alone have
litters that are numerous as well as developed, for it

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nam1 plures2 contra naturam solidipedum aut
bisulcorum.

185 LXXXV. Super cuncta est murium fetus, haut sine
cunctatione dicendus, quamquam sub auctore Aristo-
tele et Alexandri Magni militibus. generatio eorum
lambendo constare, non coitu, dicitur. ex una
genitos cxx tradiderunt, apud Persas vero praeg-
nantes in ventre parentis 3 repertas ; et salis gustatu

186 fieri praegnantes opinantur. itaque desinit mirum
esse unde vis tanta messes populetur murium agres-
tium; in quibus illud quoque adhuc latet quonam
modo ilia multitude repente occidat: nam nee
exanimes reperiuntur neque extat qui murem hieme
in agro efFoderit. plurimi ita ad Troada proveniunt,
et iam inde fugaverunt incolas. proventus eorum
siccitatibus. tradunt etiam obituris vermiculum in
capite gigni. Aegyptiis muribus durus pilus sicut
irenaceis ; idem bipedes ambulant ceu Alpini quoque.

187 — Cum diversi generis coiere animaliaj ita demum
generant si tempus nascendi par habent. — Quadri-
pedum ova gignentium lacertas ore parere, ut credi-
tur vulgo, Aristoteles negat. neque incubant
eaedem, obk'tae quo sint in loco enixae, quoniam
huic animali nulla memoria; itaque per se catuli
erumpunt.

188 LXXXVI. Anguem ex medulla hominis spinae

1 Mayhoff : item. 2 item mures Dettefsen.

3 Hermolaus Barbaras : in praegnantis ventre parientis.

0 This sentence appears to be out of place here.
410

BOOK X. LXXXIV. i84-Lxxxvi. 188

is against the nature of those with solid or cloven
hoofs to produce several young.

LXXXV. The most prolific of all animals whatever Fertility of
is the mouse — one hesitates to state its fertility, even themnLSe-
though on the authority of Aristotle and the troops
of Alexander the Great. It is stated that with it
impregnation takes place by licking and not by
coupling. There is a record of 120 being born from
a single mother, and in Persia of mice already preg-
nant being found in the parent's womb; and it is
believed that they are made pregnant by tasting salt.
Accordingly it ceases to be surprising how so large
an army of field-mice ravages the crops ; and in the
case of field-mice it is also hitherto unknown exactly
how this vast multitude is suddenly destroyed:
for they are never found dead, and nobody exists
who ever dug up a mouse in a field in winter. Vast
numbers thus appear in the Troad, and they have
by now banished the inhabitants from that country.
They appear during droughts. It is also related
that when a mouse is going to die a worm grows in
its head. The mice in Egypt have hard hair like
hedgehogs, and also they walk on two feet, as also
do the Alpine mice. — When animals of a different other faci$
kind pair, the union is only fertile when the two species f^ breedr
have the same period of gestation^ — There is a
popular belief that of the oviparous quadrupeds the
lizard bears through the mouth, but this is denied
by Aristotle. Lizards do not hatch their eggs, but
forget where they laid them, as this animal has no
memory ; and consequently the young ones break the
shell without assistance.

LXXXVI. We have it from many authorities that M™®™*
a snake may be born from the spinal marrow of a

411

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

gigni accepimus a nmltis. pleraque enim occulta et
caeca origine proveniunt, etiam in quadripedum
genere, sicut salamandrae, animal lacertae figura,
stellatum, nmnquam nisi magnis imbribus proveniens
et serenitate deficiens.1 huic tantus rigor ut ignem
tactu restinguat non alio modo quam glacies.
eiusdem sanie, quae lactea ore vomitur, quacumque
parte corporis human! contacta toti defiuunt pili,
idque quod contactum est colorem in vitiliginem
mutat.

189 LXXXVIL Quaedam ergo gigmmtur ex non
genitis et sine ulla simili origine, ut supra dicta et
quaecumque 2 ver statumque tempus anni generat.
ex his quaedam nihil gignunt, ut salamandrae, neque
est in his masculum femininumve, sicut neque in
anguillis omnibusque quae nee animal nee ovum
ex sese generant; neutrum est et ostreis genus et

190 ceteris adhaerentibus vado vel saxo. quae autem
per se generantur, si in mares et feminas discripta
sunt, generant quidem aliquid coitu, sed inperfectum
ac olissimile et ex quo nihil amplius gignatur, ut
vermiculos muscae. id magis declaravit natura
eorum quae insecta dicuntur, arduae explanationis
omnia et privatim dicato opere narranda. quaprop-
ter ingenium praedictorum et reliqua subtexetur
edissertatio.

191 LXXXVIII. Ex sensibus ante cetera homini
tactus, dein gustatus; reliquis superatur a multis.

1 v.L desinens.

2 v.l. aestas ant ver.

a Doubtless c molluscs ', i.e. any shell-fish, are meant.
412

BOOK X. LXXXVI. i88-LXxxviii. 191

human being. For a number of animals spring from
some hidden and secret source, even in the quadruped
class, for instance salamanders, a creature shaped
like a lizard, covered with spots, never appearing
except in great rains and disappearing in fine weather.
It is so chilly that it puts out fire by its contact, in
the same way as ice does. It vomits from its mouth
a milky slaver, one touch of which on any part of the
human body causes all the hair to drop off, and the
portion touched changes its colour and breaks out
in a tetter.

LXXXVII. Consequently some creatures are born other
from parents that themselves were not born and SjrS^Jf*
were without any similar origin, like the ones men- duction*
tioned above and all those that are produced by the
spring and a fixed season of the year. Some of these
are infertile, for instance the salamander, and in
these there is no male or female, as also there is no
sex in eels and all the species that are neither vivi-
parous nor oviparous; also oysters0 and the other
creatures clinging to the bottom of shallow water or to
rocks are neuters. But self-generated creatures if
divided into males and females do produce an off-spring
by coupling, but it is imperfect and unlike the parent
and not productive in its turn : for instance flies pro-
duce maggots. This is shown more clearly by the
nature of the creatures called insects, all of which are
difficult to describe and must be discussed in a work
devoted specially to them. Consequently the
psychology of the beforesaid creatures, and the
remainder of the discussion, must be appended,

LXXXVIII. Among the senses, that of touch in Kemn&i of
man ranks before all the other species, and taste ^^^
next ; but in the remaining senses he is surpassed *?»«&*.

4*3

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aquilae clarius cernunt, vultures sagacius odorantur,
liquidius audiunt talpae — obrutae terra, tarn denso
atque surdo naturae elemento, praeterea voce omni
in sublime tendente, sermonem exaudiunt et, si de iis
loquare, intellegere etiam dicuntur et profugere.

192 auditus cui hominum primo negatus est, huic et
sermonis usus ablatus, nee sunt naturaliter surdi ut
non idem sint et muti. in marinis ostreis auditum
esse non est verisimile; sed ad sonum mergere se
dicuntur solenes ; ideo et silentium in more x

193 piscantibus. LXXXIX. pisces quidem auditus nee
membra habent nee foramina, audire tamen eos
palam est, utpote cum plausu congregari feros ad
cibum adsuetudine in quibusdam vivariis spectetur,
et in piscinis Caesaris genera piscium ad nomen
venire, quosdamve2 singulos. itaque produntur
etiam clarissime audire mugil, lupus, salpa, chromis,
et ideo in vado vivere.

194 XC. Olfactum iis esse manifeste patet, quippe
non omnes cadem esca capiuntur et prius quam
adpetant odorantur. quosdam et speluncis latentes
salsamento inlitis faucibus scopuli piscator expellit
velut sui cadaveris agnitionem fugientes ; conveniunt-
que ex alto etiam ad quosdam odores, ut sepiam
ustam et polypum, quae ideo coiciuntur in nassas.
sentinae quidem navium odorem procul fugiunt,

1 v.l. in mari.

2 MayTioff : quosdam aut quosdamque.

414

BOOK X. LXXXVIII. IQI-XC. 194

by many other creatures. Eagles have clearer
sight, vultures a keener sense of smell, moles acuter
hearing — although they are buried in the earth, so
dense and deaf an element of nature, and although
moreover all sound travels upward, they can overhear
people talking, and it is actually said that if you
speak about them they understand and run away.
Among men, when one is first of all denied hearing
he also is robbed of the power of talking, and there
are no persons deaf from birth who are not also
dumb. The sea-oyster probably has no sense of
hearing ; but it is said that the razor-shell dives at a
sound : consequently people fishing make a practice
of silence. LXXXIX. Fish indeed have no auditory Fishes
organs or passages, but nevertheless it is obvious that J
they hear, inasmuch as it can be observed that in some
fishponds wild fish have a habit of flocking together
to be fed at the sound of clapping, and in the
Emperor's aquarium the various kinds of fish come
in answer to their names, or in some cases individual
fish. Consequently it is also stated that the mullet,
the wolf-fish, the stockfish and the chromis hear very
clearly, and therefore live in shallow water.

XC. It is clearly obvious that fish possess a sense
of smell, as they are not all attracted by the same
food, and they smell a thing before they seize it.
Some fish even when hiding in caves are driven out
by a fisherman who smears the mouth of the crag
with brine used in pickling — they run away as it
were from the recognition of their own dead body j
and they also flock together from the deep water to
certain smells, for instance a burnt cuttle-fish or
polyp, which are thrown into wicker creels for this
purpose. Indeed the stench of a ship's bilge makes

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

195 maxima tamen piscium sanguinem. non potest ab
escis 1 avelli polypus ; idem cunila admota ab odore 2
protinus resilit. purpurae quoque faetidis capiuntur.
nam de reliquo animalium genere quis dubitet?
cormis cervini usti3 odore serpentes fugantur, sed
maxime styracis; origani aut calcis aut sulpuris
formicae necantur. culices acida petunt, ad dulcia
non advolant.

Tactus sensus omnibus est, etiam quibus nullus
alius ; nam et ostreis et terrestrium vermibus

196 quoque. XCI. existimaverim omnibus sensum et
gustatus esse ; cur enim alios alia sap ores adpetant ?
in quo vel praecipua naturae artificia 4 : alia dentibus
praedantur, alia unguibus, alia rostri aduncitate
carpunt, alia latitudine eruunt, alia acumine exca-
vant; alia sugunt, alia lambunt, sorbent, mandunt,
vorant. nee minor varietas in pedum ministerio, ut
rapiant, distrahant, teneant, premant, pendeant,
tellurem scabere non cessent.

197 XCIL Venenis capreae et coturnices, ut diximus,
pinguescunt, placidissima animalia, at serpentes ovis,
spectanda quidem draconum arte: aut enim solida
hauriunt, si iam fauces capiuni, quae deinde in semet

1 ab escis Eaclcham (escis ? Mayhcff) : petris.

2 ob odorem ? Mayhoff.

3 usti add. Mayhoff.

4 artificia Dettefsen (varietas et lusus Mayhoff) : fragmenta
varia codd.

a The MSS. give * from the rocks/ but cf. Ar. Hist. An.
5346 27.

fr §69.
416

BOOK X. xc. 195-xcn. 197

them flee far away, but most of all the blood of
fishes. The polyp cannot be dragged away from
the bait a ; but when a sprig of marjoram is brought
near to it, it at once darts away from the scent, soue of
Purple-fish also can be caught by means of things *™£in
with a foul smell. As to the rest of the animal class species.
who could have any doubt? Snakes are driven
away by the stench of burnt stag's horn, but espe-
cially by that of styrax-tree gum; the scent of
marjoram or lime or sulphur kills ants. Gnats seek
for sour things and are not attracted by sweet
things.

All creatures have the sense of touch, even those Touch and
that have none of the others ; it is possessed even taste-
by molluscs, and also, among land animals, by worms.
XCI. I am inclined to believe that all possess the
sense of taste also; for why are different species
attracted by different flavours? In the matter of
taste nature's handicraft is outstanding: some
creatures catch their prey with their teeth, others
with their claws, others snatch their food with the
curve of the beak, others root it up with the flat of
the beak, others dig it out with the point; some
suck it in, others lick it, sup it up, chew it, gulp it
down. Nor is there less variety in the service
rendered by their feet, in snatching, tearing asunder,
holding, squeezing, hanging, or incessantly scratching
the earth.

XCII. Wild goats and quails, the most peaceful Janet™ of
of creatures, grow fat, as we have said, on poisons,6 mttHiwn-
but snakes batten on eggs, serpents having a
remarkably skilful trick — they either gulp the eggs
down whole, if their throats have grown large enough
to hold them, and then break them inside them by

417

VOL. III. E E

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

convoluti frangunt intus atque ita putamina extus-
siunt, ant si tenerior est catulis adhue aetas, orbe
adprehensa spirae ita sensim veliementerque praes-
tringunt ut amputata parte ceu ferro e reliqua quae
amplexu tenetur sorbeant. simili modo avibus
devoratis solidis contentione plumam et ossa revo-
munt.

198 XCIII. Scorpiones terra vivunt. serpentes cum
occasio est vinum praecipue adpetunt, cum alioqui
exiguo indigeant potu; eaedem minimo et paene
nullo cibo cum adservantur inclusae; sicuti aranei
quoque, alioqui suctu viventes. ideo nullum interit
fame aut siti venenatum; nam neque calor iis nee
sanguis, nee sudor, qui1 aviditatem naturali sale
auget.2 in quo genere omnia magis exitialia si

199 suum genus edere antequam noceant. condit in
thesauros maxillarum cibum sphingiorum et satyro-
rum genus, mox inde sensim ad mandendum
manibus expromit — et quod formicis in annum,
sollemne est his in dies vel horas. unum animal
digitos habentium herba alitur lepus ; ea 3 et fruge
solidipedes, et e bisulcis sues omni cibatu et radicibus.
solidipedum volutatio propria. serratorum dentium
carnivora sunt omnia. ursi et fruge, fronde, vinde-
mia, pomis vivunt et apibus, cancris etiam ac formicis.

200 lupi, ut diximus, et terra in fame, pecus potu

1 Rackham : quae. 2 EacTcham : augent.

8 ea Mayhoff : sed.

• vniss.

BOOK X. xcii. 197-xcm. 200

rolling themselves up in a coil, and so cough out the
bits of eggshell, or if they are young snakes as yet of
too tender an age, they catch hold of the eggs in the
ring of their coil and squeeze them so gradually and
forcibly that part is cut off as if with a knife from
the remainder which is held in their folds and then
they suck it in. In a like manner they swallow
birds whole and then with a heave bring up again
the feathers and the bones.

XCIIL Scorpions live on earth. Snakes are
specially fond of wine when they have the chance,
though otherwise they need little drink ; they
need very little food, and almost none at all when
they are kept shut up ; just as do spiders also, which
otherwise live by suction. Consequently no venor
mous creature dies of hunger or thirst; for they
have neither heat nor blood, nor yet sweat, which
increases appetite by its natural salt. All in this
class are more deadly if they have eaten their own
kind before they attack somebody. The class of dog-
headed apes and ourang-outangs stores food in the
recesses of the jaw-bones, and then gradually takes
it out from there with its hands to chew it — and
what with ants is an annual ceremony is for these a
daily or hourly practice. The only animal with toes
that lives on grass is the hare ; solid-hooved animals
live on grass and corn, and among animals with
cloven feet the pig eats all kinds of fodder and also
roots. Rolling on the ground is peculiar to animals
,with solid hooves. All species with serrated teeth
are carnivorous. Bears also eat grain, leaves,
grapes and fruits and bees, and even crabs and
ants. Wolves, as we have said,0 when hungry
even eat earth. Cattle grow fat with drinking,

419

EE2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pinguesclt, ideo sal illis aptissimus, item veterina,
quamquam et fnige et herba, scilicet 1 ut bibere sic
edunt. ruminant praeter iam dicta silvestrium
cervi, cum a nobis aluntur; omnia autem iacentia
potius quam stantia, et hieme magis quam aestate,
septenis fere mensibus. Pontici quoque mures
simili modo remandunt.

201 XCIV. In potu autem quibus serrati dentes lam-
bunt, et mures hi vulgares, quamvis ex alio genere
sint ; quibus continui dentes sorbent, ut equi, boves ;
neutrum ursi, sed aquam quoque morsu vorant. in
Africa maior pars ferarum aestate non bibunt inopia

• irnbrium, quam ob causam capti mures Libyci si
bibere moriuntur. orygem perpetuo sitientia
Africae generant ex natura loci potu carentem et
mirabili modo ad remedia sitientium : namque
Gaetuli latrones eo durant auxilio repertis in 2 corpore
corum saluberrimi liquoris vesicis.

202 Insidunt in eadem Africa pardi condensas arbor es3
occultatique carum ramis in practereuntia desiliunt,
atque e volucrum sede grassantur. feles quidem
quo silentio, quam levibus vestigiis obrepunt avibus !
quam occult e speculatae in musculos exiliunt !
excrementa sua eflbssa obruunt terra intellegentes

203 odorem ilium indicem sui esse. XCV, ergo et alios

1 scilicet Mayhoff : secL

2 v.l. pro : aperto Mayhoff.

3 Raclcham (-am arborem MayTwff) : condensa arbore.

A Perixaps the ermine is meant.
420

BOOK X. xcm. 200-xcv. 203

and consequently salt is specially suitable for them.
So also do beasts of burden, although they also
fatten on corn and grass; in fact they eat in
proportion to what they have drunk. Beside the
ruminants already mentioned, of forest animals stags
ruminate when they are kept by us; but they all
ruminate lying down in preference to standing, and
in winter more than in summer, for a period of about
seven months. The mice of Pontus a also remasticate
their food in a similar manner.

XCIV. In drinking, animals with serrated teeth Modes of
lap, and so does our common mouse, though it dnnkinff-
really belongs to another class; those with teeth
that touch suck, for instance horses and cattle;
bears do neither, but gulp water as well as food in
bites. In Africa the greater part of ;the wild animals
do not drink at all in summer, owing to lack of
rains for which reason Libyan mice in captivity
die if given drink. The perpetually dry parts of
Africa produce the antelope, which owing to the
nature of the region goes without drink in quite a
remarkable fashion, for the assistance of thirsty
people, as the Gaetulian brigands rely on their
help to keep going, bladders containing extremely
healthy liquid being found in their body.

In Africa also leopards crouch in the thick foliage Feline
of the trees and hidden by their boughs leap down 3taiu^
on to animals passing by, and stalk their prey from
the perches of birds. Then how silently and with
what a light tread do cats creep up to birds! how
stealthily they watch their chance to leap out on
tiny mice ! They scrape up the earth to bury their
droppings, realizing that the smell of these gives
them away. XCV. Consequently it is easily manifest

421

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quosdam sensus esse quam supra dictos haud diffi-
culter apparet.

Sunt enim quaedam iis bella amicitiaeque, unde
et adfectus, praeter ilia quae de quibusque eorum
suis diximus locis. dissident olores et aquilae;
corvus et chloreus noctu invicem ova exquirentes;
simili modo corvus et milvus, illo praeripiente huic
cibos ; cornices atque noctuae,1 aquila 2 et trochilus
— si credimus, quoniam rex appellatur avium ; noctuae

204 et ceterae minores ; aves rursus cum terrestribus 3 —
mustela et cornix, turtur et pyrallis, ichneumones
[vespae] 4 et phalangia [aranei] 5 aquaticae brenthos et
gavia et harpe et triorchis [accipiter] 6 ; sorices et
ardiolae invicem fetibus insidiantes, aegithus avis
minima cum asino — spinetis enim se scabendi causa
atterens nidos eius dissipat, quod adeo pavet ut voce
omnino rudentis audita ova eiciat, pulli ipsi metu
cadant ; igitur advolans ulcera eius rostro excavat —

205 volpes et milvi, angues et mustelae et sues, aesalon
vocatur parva avis ova corvi frangens, cuius pulli
infestantur a vulpibus ; invicem haec catulos volpis 7
ipsamque vellit; quod ubi viderunt corvi, contra
auxiliantur velut adversus communem hostem. et
acanthis in spinis vivit: idcirco asinos et ipsa odit

noctua.

2 aquila ? Mayhoff : aquilae.

3 rursus cum trociiilo ex Ar. Mayhoff,
*• 5- 6 sed. Eackham.

7 volpis ? Mayhoff : eius.

the lien is bright green.

.e. the long-tailed titmouse, the only one that nests in
hushes.

422

BOOK X. xcv. 203-205

that there are also certain senses other than those
mentioned above.

For animals have certain kinds of warfare and
friendships , and the feelings that result from them,
besides the various facts that we have stated about
each species in their places. There are quarrels
between swans and eagles ; between the raven and
the golden oriole a when searching for one another *s
eggs by night ; similarly between the raven and the
kite when the former snatches the latter 's food
before he can get it; between crows and owls, the
eagle and the gold-crest — if we can believe it, as the
, eagle is called the king of birds ; between owls and
the other smaller birds; again birds with land
animals — the weasel and the crow, the turtle-dove
and the pyrallis, ichneumon-flies and spiders; the
water-birds brenthos and gull and goshawk and
buzzard; shrewmice and herons lying in wait
for each other's young; that very tiny bird the
titmouse & with the ass, which by rubbing itself
against thorns for the sake of scratching dislodges
the nests of the titmouse, which is so scared that
when it merely hears the sound of an ass braying
it throws its eggs out of the nest, and the chicks
themselves in fear fall out, and consequently the
bird flies at the ass and hollows out its sores
with its beak ; foxes and kites ; snakes and weasels
and pigs. There is a small tod called the aesalon
that breaks a raven's eggs, whose chicks are preyed
upon by foxes, and it retaliates by pecking the fox-
cubs and the vixen herself; when the ravens see
this they come to their aid against the aesalon as
against a common foe. Also the gold-finch lives
in thorn-bushes and consequently it also hates asses

423

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

flores spinae devorantes ; aegithum vero anthus 1 in
tantum ut sanguinem eorum credant non coire
multisque ob id veneficiis infament, dissident thoes

206 et leones. et minima aeque ac maxima, formicosam
arborem erucae cavent; librat araneus se filo in
caput serpentis porrectae sub umbra arboris suae
tantaque vi morsu cerebrum adprehendit ut stridens
subinde et vertigine rotata ne filum quidem pendentis
Tumpere, adeo non fugere queat, nee finis ante
mortem est.

207 XCVI. Rursus amici pavones et columbae, turtures
et psittaci, merulae et turtures, cornix et ardiola2
contra vulpium genus communibus inimicitiis, harpe
et milvus contra triorchin. quid, non et affectus
indicia sunt etiam in serpentibus, inmitissimo
animalium genere ? dicta sunt quae Arcadia narrat
de domino a dracone servato et agnito voce

208 [draconis].3 de aspide miraculum Phylarcho" red-
datur : is enim auctor est, cum ad mensam cuiusdam
veniens in Aegypto aleretur adsidue, enixam 4
catulos, quorum ab uno filium hospitis interemptum ;
ill am reversam ad consuetudinem cibi intellexisse
culpam et necem intulisse catulo, nee postea in
tectum id reversam.

209 XCVII. Somni quaestio non obscuram coniecta-
tionem habet. in terrestribus omnia quae coniveant

1 anthus add. ex Ar. Hermolaus.

2 Eackham : ardiolae.

3 sed. Mayhojf.

4 v.l. enixa.

« vin 6i.
424

BOOK X. xcv. 2o'5-xcvn. 209

that devour the flowers of the thorn ; but the yellow
wagtail hates the titmouse so bitterly that people
believe that then* blood will not mix, and conse-
quently they give it a bad name as used for many
poisons. The thos and the lion quarrel. Also the
smallest animals quarrel as much as the largest : a
tree infested with ants is hollowed out by caterpillars ;
a spider swings by a thread on to the head of a snake
stretched out beneath the shade of its tree, and nips
its brain with its jaws so violently that it at once
gives a hiss and whirls giddily round, but cannot
even break the thread by which the spider hangs,
much less get away, and there is no end to it before
its death.

XCVI. On the other hand friendships occur Friendships
between peacocks* and pigeons, turtle-doves andJJJJST;
parrots, blackbirds and turtle-doves, the crow and^nW „

fi T A i • • • , - , ii f snakes and

the little heron in a joint enmity against the fox man.
kind and the goshawk and kite against the buz-
zard. Why, are there not signs of affection even
in snakes, the most hostile kind of animals ? we have
mentioned a the story that Arcady tells about the
snake that saved his master's life and recognized
him by his voice. Let us place to* the credit of
Phylarchus a marvellous tale about an asp: he
relates that in Egypt, when it used to come regularly
to be fed at someone's table, it was delivered of
young ones, and that its hosts 's son was killed by
one of these ; and that when the mother came back
for its usual meal it realized the young one's guilt
and killed it, and never came back to the 'house again
afterwards.

XCVII. The question of sleep does not involve *g£/
any obscure conjecture. It is clear that among land specie*.

425

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dormire manifestum est. aquatilia quoque exiguum
qxiidem etiam qui de ceteris dubitant dormire tamen
existimant, non oculorum argumento, quia non
habent genas, verum ipsa quiete : cernuntur placida
ceu soporata, neque aliud quam caudas moventia, et

210 ad tumultum aliquem expavescentia. de thynnis
confidentius adfirmatur, iuxta ripas enim aut petras
dormiunt; plani autem piscium in vado, ut manu
saepe tollantur. nam delphini ballaenaeque ster-
tentes etiam audiuntur. insecta quoque dormire
silentio apparet, quae ne luminibus quidem'admotis
excitentur.

211 XCVIIL Homo genitus premitur somno per
aliquot menses, dein longior in dies vigilia. somniat
statim infans, nam et pavore expergiscitur et suctum
imitatur. quidam vero numquam, quibus morti-
ferum fuisse signum contra consuetudinem somnium
invenimus exempla. magnus hie invitat locus et
diversis refertus documentis, utrumne sint aliqua
praescita animi quiescentis, quaque 1 fiant ratione,
an fortuita res sit ut pleraque. si exemplis agatur,
profecto paria fiant. a vino et a cibis proxima, atque
in redormitione, vana esse visa prope convenit ; est
autem somnus nihil aliud quam animi in medium sese

212 recessus. praeter hominem somniare equos, canes,

1 qne add. BUlig.
426

BOOK X. xcvn. 209-xcvm. 212

animals all those that close the eyes sleep. That
also water animals sleep at all events a little is held
even by those who doubt about the other kinds;
they do not infer this from the eyes, as these creatures
have no eyelids, but merely by their quietness : they
are seen reposing as if sunk in slumber, and only
moving their tails, and waking up in alarm at any
disturbance. It is affirmed with more confidence
about tunny-fish, because they sleep close to banks
or rocks; while flatfish sleep in shallow water, so
that they are often taken out by hand. Dolphins
and whales, in fact, are heard actually snoring. That
insects also sleep is shown by their silence, and by
their not even being roused by having lights brought
near them.

XCVIII. Man when born is beset by sleep
some months, and then day by day his waking period 1£}%an3 of
gets longer. An infant begins to dream at once, for
it wakes up in a fright, and also imitates sucking.
But some children never dream, and with these we
find instances in which their dreaming contrary to
their usual habit was a sign of approaching death.
Here an important topic invites us and one fully
supplied with arguments on both sides — whether
there are certain cases of foreknowledge present in
the mind during repose, and what causes them, or
whether it is a matter of chance like most things.
If the question be argued by instances, these would
doubtless be found to be equal on both sides. It is
practically agreed that dreams occurring directly
after drinking wine and eating food, and those that
come in dozing off to sleep a second time, are false ;
but sleep is really nothing but the retirement of the
mind into its innermost self. It is manifest that,

4*7

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

boves, pecora, capras, palarii est ; ob hoc creditur et
in omnibus quae animal pariant. de his quae
ova gignunt incertum est, sed dormire ea certum.

Verum et ad insecta transeamus; haec namque
restant, inmensae subtilitatis animalia.1

1 haec — animalia (cf. XI 1 init.) om. Caesarius.

428

BOOK X. xcvm. 212

beside human beings, horses, dogs, oxen, sheep and
goats dream; it is consequently believed that,
dreams also occur in all viviparous species. As to
the oviparous creatures it is uncertain, but it is
certain that they sleep.

But let us also pass to insects, for these remain,
creatures of immeasurably minute structure.

429

BOOK XI

LIBER XI

I. Restant immensae subtilitatis animalia, quando
aliqui ea neque spirare et sanguine etiam carere
prodiderunt. multa haec et multigenera terrestrium
volucrumque vita, alia. . . -1 pennata, ut apes, alia
utroque modo, ut formicae, aliqua et pennis et pedibus
carentia, iure omnia insecta appellata ab incisuris
quae nunc cervicium'loco, nunc pectorum atque alvi,
praecincta separant membra, tenui modo fistula
cohaerentia, aliquis vero non tota incisurae 2 ambiente
ruga, sed in alvo aut superne tantum, imbricatis
flexilibus vertebris, nusquam alibi spectatiore natu-
2 rae rerum artificio : in magnis siquidem cor-
poribus aut certe maioribus facilis officina sequaci
materia fuit, in his tarn parvis atque tarn nullis quae
ratio, quanta vis, quam inextricabilis perfectio ! ubi
tot sensus collocavit in culice ? — et sunt alia dictu
minora, — sed ubi visum in eo praetendit? ubi

1 lacunawi, fort. <(pinnis carentia, ut iuli, alia> Mayfioff.

2 Mayhoff : incisura earn.

0 In respect of insects etc. the ancients, handicapped by
not having microscopes, were even more at fault than in other
departments.

* This clause is a conjectural insertion from Aristotle
523 b 19.

432

BOOK XI

L There remain some creatures of immeasurably !***<** .*
minute structure0 — in fact some authorities haveS
stated that they do not breathe and also that they ^ure
are actually devoid of blood. These are of great limbs and
number and of many kinds ; they have the habits *tinff3*
of land-animals and of flying animals, some lacking
wings, for instance centipedes,5, others winged, for
instance bees, others of both kinds, for instance ants,
some lacking both wings and feet ; and all are rightly
termed insects, from the incisions which encircle
them in some cases in the region of their necks and
in others of their chests and stomach and separate
off their limbs, these being only connected by a thin
tube, with some however the crease of the incision
not entirely encircling them, but only at the belly
or higher up, with flexible vertebrae shaped like
gutter-tiles — showing a craftsmanship on the part
of Nature that is more remarkable than in any other
case : inasmuch as in large bodies or at all events
the larger ones the process of manufacture was
facilitated by the yielding nature of the material,
whereas in these minute nothings what method,
what power, what labyrinthine perfection is dis-
played! Where did Nature find a place in a flea
for all the senses? — and other smaller creatures
can be mentioned, — but at what point in its surface
did she place sight? where did she attach taste?

433

VOL. III. F F

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

gustatum adplicavit? ubi odoratum inseruit? ubi
vero truculentam illam et portione maximam vocem

3 ingeneravit ? qua subtilitate pennas adnexuit, prae-
longavit pedum crura, disposuit ieiunam caveam uti
alvum, avidam sanguinis et potissimum humani
sitim * accendit ! telum vero perfodiendo tergori quo
spiculavit ingenio, atque ut in capaci, cum cerni non
possit exilitas, reciproca generavit arte ut fodiendo
acuminatum pariter sorbendoque fistulosum esset !
quos teredini ad perforanda robora cum 2 sono teste
dentes adfixit potissimumque e ligno cibatum fecit !

4 sed turrigeros elephantorum miramur umeros tauro-
rumque colla et truces in sublime iactus, tigrium
rapinas, leonum iubas, cum rerum natura nusquam
magis quam in minimis tota sit. quapropter quaeso
ne nostra legentes, quoniam ex his spernunt multa,
etiam relata fastidio damnent, cum in contemplatione
naturae nihil possit videri supervacuum.

5 II. Insecta multi negarunt spirare, idque ratione
persuadentes quoniam viscera interiora 3 nexus
spirabilis non inessent,4 itaque vivere ut fruges
arboresque, sed plurimum interesse spiret aliquid an
vivat ; eadem de causa nee sanguinem iis esse, qui sit
nullis carentibus corde atque iecore ; sic nee spirare
ea quibus pulmo desit. unde numerosa quaestio-

1 siti Dettefsen.

a robora <terebrar>um Mayhoff.

8 inter et ora Dettejsen.
4 Mayhoff: inesset.

* This may mean the ship-worm, mistaken for an insect, or
the goat-moth caterpillar which bores into living trees.

b An emendation of the text gives * as is evidenced by a
sound as of gimlets/

434

BOOK XI. i. 2-n. 5

where did she insert smell? and where did she
implant that truculent and relatively very loud
voice ? with what subtlety she attached the wings,
extended the legs that carry the feet, placed a
ravenous hollow to serve as a stomach, kindled a
greedy thirst for blood and especially human blood !
Then with what genius she provided a sharp weapon
for piercing the skin, and as if working on a large
object, although really it is invisibly minute,
created it with alternating skill so as to be at once
pointed for digging and tubed for sucking! What
teeth she attached to the wood-borer ° for boring
through timber, with the accompanying sound as
evidence,6 and made its chief nutriment to consist
of wood! But we marvel at elephants* shoulders
carrying castles, and bulls' necks and the fierce
tossings of their heads, at the rapacity of tigers
and the manes of lions, whereas really Nature is
to be found in her entirety nowhere more than in
her smallest creations. I consequently beg my
readers not to let their contempt for many of these
creatures lead them also to condemn to scorn what
I relate about them, since in the contemplation of
Nature nothing can possibly be deemed superfluous.

II. Many people have asserted that insects do They u™
not breathe, also arguing in support of this from the
fact that they do not possess the internal organs vi
a respiratory system, and saying that consequently
they live like plants and trees, whereas there is a

J . T* v j, i .r. i T « cmdihmgh

very great difference between breathing and living;
it is for the same reason, they argue, that they do
not contain blood either, as this is found in no species
lacking a heart and a liver; similarly, they say,
things that have not got lungs do not breathe. This

435

FF2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

6 num series exoritur. iidem enim et vocem esse his
negant in tanto murmure apium, cicadarum sono, et
quae alia suis aestimabuntur locis. nam mihi
contuenti semper suasit rerum natura nihil in-
credibile existimare de ea; nee video cur magis
possint non trahere animam talia et vivere quam
spirare sine visceribus, quod etiam in marinis docui-
mus quamvis arcente spiritum densitate et altitudine

7 umoris. volare quidem aliqua et animatu carere in
ipso spiritu viventia, habere sensum victus, genera-
tionis, operis, atque etiam de futuro curam, et
quamvis non sint membra quae velut carina 1 sensus
invehant j esse tamen iis auditum, olfactum, gustatum,
eximia praeterea naturae dona, sollertiam, animum,

8 artem, quis facile crediderit ? sanguinem non esse iis
fateor, sicut ne 2 terrestribus quidem cunctis inter se
similem ; verum ut saepiae in mari sanguinis vicem 3
atramentum optinet, purpurarum generi infector ille
sucus, sic et insectis quisquis est vitalis umor hie erit
sanguis. denique existimatio sua cuique sit, nobis
propositum est naturas rerum manifestas indicare,
non causas indagare dubias.

9 III. Insecta, ut intellegi possit, non videntur
habere nervos nee ossa nee spinas nee cartilaginem

1 canali ? MayJioff.

2 ne om. v.l.

3 vicem CLut vices edd. vett. : vires.

« Of. IX 16 ff.

& A variant gives * that they have not all gat the same kind
of blood, as all land animals have.*

436

BOOK XI. ii. 5-m. 9

gives rise to a long list of questions. For the same
people actually say that these creatures have not
got a voice, in spite of all the buzzing of bees and
chirping of tree-crickets, and make other statements
the value of which will be judged in their places.
For when I have observed Nature she has always
induced me to deem no statement about her
incredible; nor do I see why such creatures should
be more able to live without breathing than to
breathe without vital organs, which we have proved °
to occur even in the case of marine creatures in
spite of the fact that their breath is barred by the
density and depth of the water. At all events that
any creatures fly and yet have no capacity of
breathing in spite of their living in the very breath
of the air, and that they have consciousness of
nutrition, generation and work, and even interest
in the future, and that although they have no organs
to carry the senses as in a vessel, they nevertheless
possess hearing, smell, taste, and those outstanding
gifts of nature, intelligence, brain, science, into
the bargain — who would easily believe this? I
admit that they have not got blood, as even land
animals have not all got blood of the same kind b ;
but just as in the sea the black fluid of the cuttle-
fish takes the place of blood, as also does the famous
juice of the genus purple-fish that supplies a dye,
similarly also whatever is the life-giving fluid
possessed by insects, this will be their blood. Finally
let each man form his own opinion, but our purpose
is to point out the manifest properties of objects,
not to search for doubtful causes.

III. So far as is perceptible, insects do not appear
to possess sinews or bones or spines or cartilage or fat

437

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nee pinguia nee carnes, ne crustam quidem fragilem,
ut quaedam marina, nee quae iure dicatur cutis, sed
mediae cuiusdam inter omnia haec naturae corpus,
arenti simile, in 1 nervo mollius, in reliquis partibus
tutius vere quam durius. et hoc solum iis est, nee
practerea aliud; nihil intus nisi admodum paucis

10 intestinum inplicatum. itaque divolsis praecipua
vivacitas et partium singularum palpitatio, quia
quaecumque est ratio vitalis ilia non certis inest
membris sed toto in corpore, minime tamen capite,
solumque non movetur nisi cum pectore avolsum.
in nullo genere plure sunt pedes, et quibus ex his
plurimij diutius vivunt divulsa, ut in scolopendris
videmus. habent autem oculos praeterque e sensi-
bus tactum atque gustatum, aliqua et odoratum,
pauca et auditum.

11 IV. Sed inter omnia ea principatus apibus et iure
praecipua admiratio, solis ex eo genere hominum
causa genitis. mella contrahunt sucumque dulcissi-
mum atque subtilissimum ac saluberrimum ; favos
confingunt et ceras mille ad usus vitae, laborem
tolerant, opera conficiunt, rempublicam habent,
consilia privatim ac duces gregatim, et quod maxime

12 mirum sit, mores habent praetef cetera,2 cum sint
neque mansueti generis neque feri. tanta est natura

1 in add. Radcham.

2 Mayhoffi habent praeterea.

a The bee kept by the Greeks and Romans was Apis
Lignstica, somewhat smaller than our bee.

BOOK XL in. 9-iv. 12

or flesh, and not even a fragile rind, such as some sea Exceptional
creatures have, nor anything that can properly be ^^
termed a skin, but a substance of a nature inter- structure ;
mediate between all of these, as it were dried up, *ense'organ*
softer in the sinew but harder or rather more durable
in all the other parts. And this is all that they
possess, and nothing else in addition; they have
no internal organs except, in the case of quite a
few, a twisted intestine. Consequently when torn
asunder they display a remarkable tenacity of life,
and the separate parts go on throbbing, because
whatever their vital principle is it certainly does
not reside in particular members but in the body as
a whole — least of all in the head, and this alone
does not move unless it has been torn off with the
breast. No other kind of creature has a greater
number of feet, and of this species the ones that
have more feet live longer when torn asunder, as we
see in the case of the multipede. But they possess
eyes, and also of the other senses touch and taste,
and some have smell as well, and a few hearing also.

IV. But among all of these species the chief place Tfobeeihe
belongs to the bees,a and this rightly is the species ^*T*n
chiefly admired, because they alone of this genus j^J^07
have been created for the sake of man. They collect
honey, that sweetest and most refined and most
health-giving of juices, they model combs and wax
that serves a thousand practical purposes, they endure
toil, they construct works, they have a government
and individual enterprises and collective leaders,
and, a thing that must occasion most surprise, they
have a system of manners that outstrips that of all
the other animals, although they belong neither to
the domesticated nor to the wild class. Nature is

439

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

rerum ut prope ex umbra minima animalis incom-
parabile effecerit quiddam. quos efficaciae in-
dustriaeque tantae comparemus nerves, quas vires ?
quos ratione medius fidius iis 1 viros, hoc certe prae-
stantioribus quod 2 nihil novere nisi commune ? non
sit de anima quaestio : constet et de sanguine ;
quantulum tamen esse in tantulis potest ! aestimemus
post ea ingenium.

13 V. Hieme conduntur — unde enim ad pruinas
nivesque et aquilonum flatus perferendos3 vires? —
sane et insecta omnia, sed minus diu quae parietibus
nostris occultata mature tepefiunt. circa apes aut
temporum locorumve ratio mutata est, aut erraverunt
priores. conduntur a vergiliarum occasu, et la-
tent ultra exortum — adeo non ad veris initium,
ut dixere — nee quisquam in Italia de alvis existimat

14 ante fabas florentes. exeunt ad opera et labores,
nullusque, cum per caelum licuit, otio perit dies,
primum favos construunt, ceram fingunt, hoc est
domos cellasque faciunt, dein subolem, postea mella,
ceram ex floribus, melliginem a lacrimis arborum
quae glutinum pariunt, salicis, ulmi, harundinis suco,

15 cummi, resina. his primum alvum ipsam intus
totam 4 ut quodam tectorio inlinunt, et aHis amariori-

1 iis add. MayKoff. 2 MayJioff : quo.

• 3 edd. : perferre. 4 Sillig : totnm (in totum edd.)>

a As a matter of fact nearly all insects die in winter.
b About the beginning of November.
c About the beginning of May.

440

BOOK XL iv. i2-v. 15

so mighty a power that out of what is almost a tiny
ghost of an animal she has created something
incomparable ! What sinews or muscles can we
match with such efficacy and industry as that of
the bees? What men, I protest, can we rank in
rationality with these insects, which unquestionably
excel mankind in this, that they recognize only
the common interest? Not raising the question of
breath, suppose we agree as to their possessing even
blood ; yet what a tiny quantity can there be in these
tiny creatures ! After these points let us estimate
their intelligence.

V. In winter insects go into retirement a — for Hibernation
whence could they obtain strength to endure frost and °f*ee*m
snow and the blasts of the north wind ? — #11 species
alike, no doubt, but not for so long a period the ones
that hide in our house-walls and are warmed earlier
than others are. In regard to bees, either seasons
or else climates have changed, or previous writers
have been mistaken. They go into retirement
after the setting b of the Pleiads and remain in hiding
till after their risec — so not till the beginning of
spring, as writers have said, — and nobody in Italy
thinks about hives before the bean is in flower.
They go out to their works and to their labours, and
not a single day is lost in idleness when the weather
grants permission. First they construct combs construction
"and mould wax, that is, construct their homes and °
"cells, then produce offspring, and afterwards honey,
wax from flowers, bee-glue from the droppings of
the gum-producing trees — the sap, glue and resin
of the willow, elm and reed. They first smear the
whole interior of the hive itself with these as with
a kind of stucco, and then with other bitterer juices

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

bus sucis contra aliarum bestiolarum aviditates, id
se facturas consciae quod concupisci possit; isdem
fores quoque latiores circumstruunt.

16 VI. Prima fundamenta commosin vocant periti,
secunda pissoceron, tertia propolin, inter coria
cerasque, magni ad medicamina usus. commosis
crusta est prima saporis amari. pissoceros super earn
venit, picantium modo, ceu dilutior cera. e vitium
populorumque mitiore cummi propolis crassioris iam
materiae additis floribus, nondum tamen cera, sed
favorum stabilimentunij qua omnes frigoris aut
iniuriae aditus obstruuntur, odore et ipsa etiamnum l
gravi, ut qua plerique pro galbano utantur.

17 VII. Praeter haec convehitur erithace quam
aliqui sandaracam, alii cerinthum vocant : hie erit
apium dum operantur cibus, qui saepe invenitur
in favorum inanitatibus sepositus, et ipse amari
saporis, gignitur autem rore verno et arbonun
suco cummium modo. capitur in ficis 2 — austri
flatu nigrior, aquilonibus melior et rubens— -
plurimus in Graecis nucibus. Menecrates florem
esse dicitj sed nemo praeter eum,

18 VIII. Ceras ex omnium arborum satorumque
floribus confingunt excepta rumice et echinopode :
herbarum haec genera, falso excipitur et spartum,

1 edd. : etiamminc.

2 Mayhoff : capitur fici (oapitur Africi Sttlig).

a I.e. * gumming,' ' pitch-waxiag ' and * bee-glue.*
* Perhaps buglosa.

442

BOOK XL v. 15-viii. 18

as a protection against the greed of other small
creatures, as they know that they are going to make
something that may possibly be coveted; with the
same materials they also build wider gateways
round the structure.

VI. The first foundations are termed by experts Three
commosis, the second pissoceros, the third propolis," materia^'
between the outer cover and the wax, substances of
great use for medicaments. Commosis is the first
crust, of a bitter flavour. Pissoceros comes above it,

as in laying on tar, as being more fluid than wax.
Propolis is obtained from the milder gum of vines
and poplars, and is made of a denser substance by
the addition of flowers, and though not as yet wax
it serves to strengthen the combs; with it all
approaches of cold or damage are blocked, and besides
it has itself a heavy scent, being in fact used by most
people as a substitute for galbanum.

VII. Besides these things a collection is made of store of
erithace, which some people call sandarach and others foodm
bee-bread; this will serve as food for the bees while
they are at work, and it is often found stored up in

the hollows of the combs, being itself also of a bitter
flavour, but it is produced out of spring dew of trees
like the gums. It is obtained in fig trees— blacker
in colour when an east wind is blowing and of
better quality and a reddish colour when north
winds blow — and in the largest quantity in Greek
nut-trees. Menecrates says that it is a flower, but
he is the only authority that makes that statement.

VIII. They make their wax from the flowers of Cofoction of
all trees and plants except the sorrel and the***'
echinopod6 ; these are kinds of herbs. It is a mistake

to say that esparto grass is also an exception, because

443

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quippe cum in Hispania multa in spartariis mella
herbam earn sapiant. falso et oleas excipi arbitror,
quippe olivae proventu plurima examina gigni
perform est. fructibus nullis nocetur. mortuis ne
floribus quidem, non modo corporibus, insidunt.

19 operantur intra LX passus et subinde consumptis in
proximo floribus speculatores ad pabula ulteriora
mittunt. noctu deprehensae in expeditione excu-
bant supinae, ut alas a rore protegant.

IX. Ne quis miretur amore earum captos Aristo-
machum Solensem duodesexaginta annis nihil aliud
egisse, Philiscum vero Thasium in desertis apes
colentem Agrium cognominatum, qui ambo scripsere
de iis.

20 X. Ratio operis mire divisi1: static ad portas
more castrorum; quies in matutinum, donee una
excitet gemino aut triplici bombo ut bucino aliquo ;
tune universae provolant, si dies mitis futurus est —
praedivinant enim ventos imbresque, cum2 se
continent tectis, itaque temperiei 3 caeli otium 4
hoc inter praescita habent. cum agmen ad opera
processit, aliae flores adgerunt pedibus, aliae aquam

21 ore guttasque lanugine totius corporis. quibus est
earum adulescentia ad opera exeunt et supradicta
convehunt, seniores intus operantur. quae flores
conportant, prioribus pedibus femina onerant prop-

1 Mayhoff, cf. §§ 23, 25 : operis interdiu.
May Ju!ff •. ni.

a Mayhoff: ni.

8 Rackham : temperies (temperie edd.},

4 Mayhoff : cum aut turn.

444

BOOK XL vm. i8-x. 21

a great deal of the honey obtained in the broom-
thickets in Spain tastes of that plant. I also think
that olives are wrongly excepted, as it is certain
that the largest number of swarms are produced
where olive-trees are growing. No harm is done to
any kind of fruit. They do not settle even on dead
flowers, let alone dead bodies. They work within a
range of sixty paces, and subsequently when the
flowers in the vicinity have been used up they send
scouts to further pastures. If overtaken by night-
fall on an expedition they camp out, reclining on
their backs to protect their wings from the dew.

IX. Nobody must be surprised that love for bees
inspired Aristomachus of Soli to devote himself to
nothing else for 58 years, and Philiscus of Thasos
to keep bees in desert places, winning the name
of the Wild Man ; both of these have written about
them.

X. Their work is marvellously mapped out on the Their
following plan: a guard is posted at the gates,

the manner of a camp ; they sleep till dawn, until «w#.
one bee wakes them up with a double or triple buzz
as a sort of bugle-call ; then they all fly forth in a body,
if the day is going to be fine — for they forecast winds
and rain, in case of which they keep indoors ; and
consequently men consider this inaction on the
part of the bees as one of the prognostics of the
weather. When the band has gone out to its tasks,
some bring home flowers in their feet and others
water in their mouth and drops clinging to the down
all over their body. While the youthful among
them go out to their tasks and collect the things
mentioned above, the older ones work indoors.
Those collecting flowers with their front feet load

445

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ter id natura scabra, pedes priores rostro, totaeque

22 onustae remeant sarcina pandatae. excipiunt eas
ternae quaternae quae exonerant : sunt enim intus
quoque officia divisa — aliae struunt, aliae poliunt, aliae
suggerunt, aliae cibum conparant ex eo quod adla-
tum est; neque enim separatim vescuntur, ne
inaequalitas operis et cibi fiat et temporis. struunt
orsae a concamaratione alvi, textumque velut a
summa tela deducunt, limitibus birds circa singulos

23 actus, ut aliis intrent, aliis exeant. favi superior!
parti1 adfixi et paulum etiam lateribus simul
haerent et pendent, imam2 alvum non contingunt,
tune 3 oblongi,4 tune rotundi, qualiter poscit alvus,
aliquando et duorum generum, cum duo examina
concordibus populis dissimiles habuere ritus. ruentes
ceras fulciunt, pilarum intergerivis a solo fornicatis

24 ne desit aditus ad sarciendum. primi fere tres
versus inanes struuntur, ne promptum sit quod
invitet furantem, novissimi maxime implentur melle :
ideo aversa alvo favi eximuntur. gerulae secundos
flatus captant. si cooriatur procella, adprehensi
pondusculo lapilli se librant ; quidam in umeros eum

1 2tacJc?iam : superiore parte. 2 Deilefsen : ima.

3 tnno Dettefsen i nunc.
446

BOOK XI. x. 21-24

their thighs, which are covered with scales so as to
serve this purpose, and with their beak load their
front feet, and when fully loaded return bulging
with their burden. Each is received by three or
four others who relieve him of his load : for indoors
also the duties are divided — some build, others
polish, others bring up material, others prepare
food from what is brought to them ; for they do not
feed separately, so that there shall be no inequality
of work or food or time. In building they begin
with the vaulting of the hive, and they bring down
as it were a web from the top of a loom, with two
balks round each square of work, so that some may
come in and others go out. The combs hang firmly
attached to the upper part and also a little to the
sides at the same time, but they do not reach to the
floor of the hive ; sometimes they are oblong and
sometimes round, according as the shape of the
hive requires, and occasionally also of both kinds,
when two swarms whose members are friendly
have different customs. They prop up combs that
are inclined to fall, the party-walls between the
pillars being arched from the ground level so as to
supply access for the purpose of repairing. The
first three rows or so are arranged empty, so that
there may not be any obvious temptation to a thief;
the last ones are filled fullest with honey;
consequently the combs are taken out from the back
of the hive. Carrier bees wait for favourable breezes.
If a storm arises, they steady themselves with the
weight of a little pebble held in their feet; some
authorities say that it is placed on their shoulders,

Pintianus (e Colwmella) :

447

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

inponi tradunt. iuxta vero terrain volant in ad-

25 verso flatu vepribus evitatis. mira observatio operis :
cessantium inertiam notant, castigant, mox et
punhint morte. mira munditia : amoliuntur omnia e
medio, nullaeque inter opera spureitiae iacent;
quin et excrementa operantium intus, ne longius
recedant, unum congesta in locum turbidis diebus

26 et operis otio egerunt. cum adversperascit, in alvo
strepunt minus ac minus, donee una circum volet
eodem quo excitavit bombo ceu quietem capere
imperitans, et hoc castrorum more; tune repente
omnes conticescunt.

Domos primum plebei exaedificant, deinde re-
gibus, si speratur largior proventus, adiciuntur
contubernia et fucis; hae cellarum nu'nimae, sed

27 ipsis1 maiores apibus. XL sunt autem fuci sine
aculeo, velut inperfectae apes novissimaeque, a
fessis et iam emeritis inchoatae, serotinus fetus
et quasi servitia verarum apium; quamobrem im-
perant is primosque expellunt in opera, tardantis sine
dementia puniunt. neque in opere tantum, sed in
fetu quoque adiuvant eas, multum ad calorem

1 RacUiam : ipsi.

a I.e. the queen-bees.

6 Fucust t pretence,' ' sham bee,' was used as a name for
the drones because of their supposed sterility (c/. § 49), although
just below here Pliny seems aware that their presence has
something to do with, the size of the population of the hive.
They are in fact the males, who impregnate the queens, and
are then idle consumers until, when the harvest of honey

448

BOOK XI. x. 24-xi, 27

However in a wind against them they fly close to the
ground, carefully avoiding the brambles. They keep
a wonderful watch on the work in hand ; they mark
the idleness of any who are slack and chastise them,^
and later even punish them with death. They are
wonderfully clean: they remove everything out
of the way and no refuse is left lying among their
work ; indeed the droppings of those working inside
are heaped in one place so that they may not have
to retire too far, and they carry them out on stormy
days and when work is suspended. When evening
approaches, the buzzing inside the hive grows less
and less, till one bee flies round as though giving
the order to take repose with the same loud buzz
with which she woke them, and this in the manner
of a military camp; thereupon they all suddenly
become quiet.

They build homes for the commonalty first, and
for the kings a afterwards. If a specially large
production of honey is expected, quarters are added
for the drones as well; these are the smallest of the
cells, but those for the worker-bees themselves are
larger. XL The drones b have no stings, being- so to ^^ $
say imperfect bees and the newest made, the incom-
plete product of those that are exhausted and now
discharged from service, a late brood, and as it were
the servants of the true bees, who consequently
order them about, and drive them out first to the
works, punishing laggards without mercy. And
the drones are of service to the bees not only in
work but also when breeding, as their crowd

begins to fail in autumn, they are killed and oast out of the
colony by the worker-bees. The workers are females not
specialized like the queens for reproduction.

449
VOL. III. G G

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

28 conferente turba; certe quo maior eorum fuit mul-
titude, hoc maior fit et 1 examinum proventus. cum
mella coeperunt maturescere, abigunt eos, multaeque
singulos adgressae trucidant. nee id genus nisi vere
eonspicitur. fucus ademptis alis in alvum reiectus

29 ipse ceteris adimit. XII. regias imperatoribus
futuris in ima parte alvi exstruunt amplas, magnificas,
separatas, tuberculo eminentes ; quod si exprimatur,
non gignuntur.2 sexangulae omnes cellae a singu-
lorum pedum opere. nihil horum stato tempore,
sed rapiunt diebus serenis munia. melle uno alterove
summum die cellas replent.

30 Venit hoc ex aere et maxime siderum exortu,
praecipueque ipso Sirio explendescente fit 3 nee
omnino prius vergiliarum exortu, sublucanis tempori-
bus. itaque tuna prima aurora folia arborum melle
roscida inveniuntur, ac si qui matutino sub divo4
fuere; unctas liquore vestis capillumque concretum
sentiunt, sive ille est caeli sudor sive quaedam
siderum saliva sive purgantis se aeris sucus. utinam-
que esset purus ac liquidus et suae naturae, qualis

31 defluit primo! nunc vero a tanta cadens altitudine
multumque dum venit sordescens et obvio terrae
halitu infectus, praeterea e fronde ac pabulis potus et

1 Mayhoff : fiet aut fit. 2 vJ. gignuntur suboles.

3 edd. : explendescente aut exsplendescit.

4 v.l. sub dm.

450

BOOK XL xi. 27-xii. 31

contributes much to their warmth: it is certain
that the larger number of drones there has been,
the larger production of swarms also occurs. When
the honey has begun to ripen, the bees drive the
drones away, and falling on them many to one kill
them. Moreover this class of bee is only seen in
spring. If a drone is stripped of its wings and after-
wards thrown back into the hive it itself strips
the wings off the others. XII. They build large
and splendid separate palaces for those who are to be
their rulers, in the bottom of the hive; these project
with a protuberance, and if this be squeezed out,
no offspring is born. All the cells are hexagonal,
each side being made by one of the bee's six feet.
None of these tasks are done at a fixed time, but they
snatch their duties on fine days. They fill their
cells with honey on one or at most two days.

Honey comes out of the air, and is chiefly formed
at the rising of the stars, and especially when the
Dogstar itself shines forth, and not at all before the Jjjjj**
rising of the Pleiads, in the periods just before atmadu.
dawn. Consequently at that season at early dawn
the leaves of trees are found bedewed with honey,
and any persons who have been out under the
morning sky feel their clothes smeared with damp
and their hair stuck together, whether this is the
perspiration of the sky or a sort of saliva of the stars
or the moisture of the air purging itself. And
would it were pure and liquid and hoiBOgeneotis,
as it was when it first flowed down ! But as it is,
falling from so great a height and acquiring a great
deal of dirt as it comes and becoming stained with
vapour of the earth that it encounters, and moreover
having been sipped from foliage and pastures and

45i

GQ2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in utriculos congestus apium — ore enim eum vomunt,
ad hoc suco florum corruptus et alvi vitiis *
maceratusj totiensque mutatus, magnam tamen
caelestis naturae voluptatem adfert.

32 XIIL Ibi optumus semper ubi optimorum doliolis
florum conditur. fit 2 Attic ae regionis hoc et
Siculae Hymetto et Hybla, apricis locis,3 mox Calydna
in 4 insula. est autem initio mel ut aqua dilutum, et
primis diebus fervet ut musta seque purgat, vi-
censimo die crassescit, mox obducitur tenui mem-
brana quae fervoris ipsius spuma concrescit. sor-
betur optimum et minime fronde infectum e quercus,
tiliae, harundinum foliis.

33 XIV. Summa quidem bonitatis ratione 5 constat,
ut supra diximus, pluribus jnodis. aliubi enim favi
cera spectabiles gignuntur, ut in Sicilia, Paelignis,
aliubi copia mellis, ut in Greta, Cypro, Africa,
aliubi magnitudine, ut in septentrionalibus, viso
iam in Germania octo pedum longitudinis favo in

34 cava parte nigro. in quocumque tamen tractu
terna sunt genera mellis. vernum ex floribus con-
structo favo, quod ideo vocatur anthinurn. hoc
quidam attingi vetant, ut largo alimento valida exeat
suboles ; alii ex nullo minus apibus relinquunt,
quoniam magna sequatur ubertas magnorum siderum

1 MayTioff : alvinis aut alveis. 2 fit add. Mayhoff.
3 Mayhoff ? : ab locis aut locis. 4 in add. ? Mayhoff.

6 v.l. natione.
At §

452

BOOK XL xii. 3i~xiv. 34

having been collected into the stomachs of bees —
for they throw it up out of their mouths, atid in
addition being tainted by the juice of flowers, and
soaked in the curruptions of the belly, and so often
transformed, nevertheless it brings with it the great
pleasure of its heavenly nature.

XIII. It is always of the best quality where it is rorWiw of
stored in the calyces of the best flowers. This takes 1WMy*
place at Hymettus and Hybla in the region of
Attica and of Sicily, which are sunny localities

and also on the island of Calydna. But at the
start it is honey diluted as it were with water, and
in the first days it ferments like must and purifies
itself, while on the twentieth day it thickens and
then is covered with a thin skin which forms from
the foam of the actual boiling. The best kind and
that least stained with the foliage is sucked from the
leaves of the oak and lime and of reeds.

XIV. Indeed it is constituted on a supreme
principle of excellence, as we have said,0 in a variety
of ways. In some places honeycombs distinguished
for their wax are formed, as in Sicily and the Abruzzi,
in other places for quantity of honey, as in Crete,
Cyprus, Africa, in others for size, as in the northern
countries, a comb havjtag before now been seen in
Germany that was 8 ft. long, and black in its hollow
part. Yet in any region there are three kinds of Seasonal
honey. There is spring honey with the comb made
from flowers, which is consequently called flower-
honey. Some people say this ought not to be
touched, so that a progeny made strong by plentiful
nourishment may be produced; but others leave

less of this honey than of any other kind for the bees,
on the ground that a great profusion follows at the

453

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

exortu, praeterea solstitio, cum thymum et uva

35 florere incipiunt, praecipua cellarum materia. est
autem in eximendis favis necessaria dispensatio,
quoniam inopia cibi desperant moriunturque aut
diffugiunt, contra copia ignaviam adfert, ac iam melle,
non erithace, pascuntur; ergo diligentiores ex hac
vindemia xv partem apibus relinquont. dies status
inchoandae ut quadam lege naturae, si scire aut
observare homines vellent, tricensimus ab educto
examine; fereque Maio mense includitur haec
vindemia.

36 Alterum genus est mellis aestivi, quod ideo vocatur
horaeon a tempestivitate praecipua, ipso sirio ex-
splendescente, post solstitium diebus xxx fere, in-
mensa circa hoc subtilitas naturae mortalibus pate-
facta est, nisi fraus hominum cuncta pernicie corrum-

37 peret. namque ab exortu sideris cuiuscumque,
sed nobilium maxime, aut caelestis arcus, si non
sequantur imbres sed ros tepescat solis radiis,
medicamenta, non mella, gignuntur, oculis, ulceribus
internisque visceribus dona caelestia. quod si
servetur hoc Sirio exoriente casuque congruat in
eunflem diem, ut saepe, Veneris aut lovis Mer-
curive exortus, non alia suavitas visque mortalium
malis a morte revocandis quam divini nectaris
fiat.

38 XV. Mel plenilunio uberius capitur, sereno die
pinguius. in omni melle quod per se fluxit ut

454

BOOK XL xiv. 34-xv. 38

rising of the great stars, and also at the solstice,
when thyme and grape-vines begin to flower, the
outstanding material for the cells. It is however
necessary to practice economy in taking away the
combs, as lack of food causes the bees to despair
and die or fly away, and on the other hand a large
supply brings sloth, and then the bees feed on the
honey and not on bee-bread; consequently the more
careful beekeepers leave a fifteenth part of this vintage
to the bees. The day fixed for beginning by a sort of
law of nature, if only men would know or keep it, is
the thirtieth after the leading out of the swarm ; and
this vintage usually falls within the month of May.

The second kind of honey is summer honey, the
Greek name for which consequently is * ripe honey/
because it is produced in the most favourable season,
when the dogstar is shining in its full splendour,
about thirty days after midsummer. In respect
of this, immense subtlety on the part of .nature
has been displayed to mortals, did not man's dis-
honesty spoil everything with its banefulness. For
after the rising of each star, but particularly the
principal stars, or of a rainbow, if rain does not
follow but the dew is warmed by the rays of the sun,
not honey but drugs are produced, heavenly gifts
for the eyes, for ulcers and for the internal organs.
And if this substance is kept when the dogstar is
rising, and if, as often happens, the rise of Venus or
Jupiter or Mercury falls on the same day, its sweet-
ness and potency for recalling mortals* ills from
death is equal to that of the nectar of the gods.

XV. Honey is obtained more copiously at
moon, and of thicker substance in fine weather. In
all honey the portion that has flowed by itself like

455

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mustum oleumque — appellatur acetum — maxime
laudabile est. aestivum omne rutilum, ut siccioribus
confectum diebus. album mel non fit ubi thymum
est, sed oculis et ulceribus aptissimum existimatur e
thymo, coloris aurei, saporis gratissimi. coit l palam

39 e violis 2 pingue, e marine rore spissum, quod con-
crescit autem minime laudatur. thymosum non
coit et tactu praetenuia fila remittit,3 quod primum
bonitatis argumentum est ; abrumpi statim et
resilire guttas vilitatis indicium habetur. sequens
probatio ut sit odoratum et ex dulci acre, glutinosum,

40 perlucidum. ex 4 aestiva mellatione x partem Cassio
Dionysio apibus relinqui placet, si plenae fuerint
alvi; si minus, pro rata portione aut, si inanes,
omnino non attingi. huic vindemiae Attici signum
dedere initium caprinci, alii diem Volcano sacrum.

41 Terbium genus mellis minime probatum silvestre,
quod ericaeum vocant. convehitur post primos
autumni imbres, cum erice sola floret in silvis, ob id
harenoso simile, gignit id maxume Arcturi exortus
ex a. d. pr. id. Septembris. quidam aestivam mella-
tionem ad Arcturi exortum proferunt, quoniam ad
aequinoctium autumni ab eo supersint dies xiv, et
ab aequinoctio ad Vergiliarum occasum diebus

42 xxxxvin plurima sit erice. Athenienses earn

1 Dettefsen : cofit aut quo fit.
8 e violis ? Mayhoff : doliolis.
3 ? Mayhoff : mittit. 4 ex add, Ian.

a About midsummer. b August 23.

456

BOOK X. xv. 38-42

must and olive oil — it is called honey-vinegar — is the
most commendable. All summer honey is reddish,
as it has been made in a comparatively dry period.
White honey is not made where there is thyme, but
honey made from thyme is thought most suitable for
the eyes and for ulcers — it is of a gold colour and has
an extremely agreeable taste. The fat honey from
violets and the thick kind from rosemary can be seen
to condense, but honey that thickens is least
praised. Honey from thyme does not condense, and
when touched sends out very thin threads, which is
the first proof of goodness ; it is considered a mark
of poor quality for the drops to break off at once and
fall back. The next test is for it to have a fragrant
scent and a sweet taste leaving a tang, and to be
sticky and transparent. Cassius Dionysius holds that
a tenth part of the summer honey-crop should be left
to the bees, if the hives were full, and that if they
were not, a proportionate amount should be left,
or if they were empty, they should not be touched
at all. The population of Attica have given the
first ripening of the wild fig a as the signal for this
vintage, but others say Vulcan's holy day.6

A third, very little valued, kind of honey is wild
honey, called heath-honey. It is collected after °f<naumn'
the first autumn rains, when only the heath is in
flower in the woods, and consequently it resembles
sandy honey. It is produced mostly by the rise of
Arcturus after September 12. Some people advance
the summer honey-making to the rise of Arcturns,
since that leaves fourteen days to the autumnal
equinox, and in the forty-eight days from the
equinox to the setting of the Pleiads heath is most
plentiful. The Athenian name for it is tetraUce, and

457

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tetralicen1 appellant, Euboea sisyrum, putantque
apibus esse gratissimam, fortassis quia tune nulla alia
sit copia. haec ergo mellatio fine vindemiae et
Vergiliarum occasu idibus Novembribus fere includi-
tur. relinqui ex ea duas partes apibus ratio persuadet,
et semper eas partes favorum quae habeant erithacen.

43 a bruma ad Arcturi exortum diebus LX somno
aluntur sine ullo cibo ; ab Arcturi exortu ad aequinoc-
tium vernum tepidiore tractu iam vigilant, sed
etiamnum alvo se continent servatosque in id tempus
cibos repetunt. in Italia vero hoc idem a Vergi-

44 liarium exortu faciunt; in eum dormiunt. alvos
quidam in eximendo melle expendunt, it a diribentes
quantum relinquant. aequitas quidem etiam in iis
obstringitur, feruntque societate fraudata alvos
mori. in primis ergo praecipitur ut lauti purique
eximant mella ; et furfurem 2 mulierumque menses

45 odere. cum eximantur mella, apes abigi fumo
utilissimum, ne irascantur aut ipsae avide vorent.
fumo crebriore et ignavia earum excitatur ad opera,
nam nisi incubavere, favos lividos faciunt. rursus
fumo nimio inficiuntur, quando iniuriam celerrime
sentiunt mella vel minimo contaqtu roris acescentia ;
et ob id inter genera servatur quod acapnum vocant.

1 edd. ex Theophrasto : tetradicen.

2 Mueller : furem (faetorem MayJioff).

458

BOOK XI. xv. 42-45

the Euboean sisyrus, and they believe it to be very-
acceptable to bees, perhaps because at that season
there is no other supply for them. Consequently
this honey-gathering is roughly in the period between
the end of vintage and the setting of the Pleiads on
November 13. Reason advises leaving two-thirds
of the honey then procured for the bees, and always
the parts of the. combs that contain bee-bread. In Hibernation
the sixty days from midwinter to the rising of
Arcturus they live on sleep, without any food; in
the warmer period from the rising of Arcturus to the
spring equinox they now keep awake, but still keep
inside the hive and have recourse to the food kept
for this time. But in Italy they do the same after
the rising of the Pleiads, sleeping till then. Some Method* of
people in taking out the honey weigh the hives, so i
separating the amount to be left behind. There is
indeed a bond of equity even in the case of bees,
and it is said that if the partnership is defrauded
the hives perish. Consequently it is one of the first
rules that people must wash themselves clean before
they take the honey; also bees hate scurf, and
women's menstruation. When honey is being
removed it is very useful for the bees to be driven
away by smoke, so that they may not get angry or
greedily devour it themselves. Also denser smoke
is employed to arouse their sloth to their tasks, for
if they have not gone on incubating, the combs they
make are discoloured. On the other hand excessive
smoke kills them, as honey very quickly undergoes
deterioration if turned sour by the least touch of
moisture; and for this reason among the kinds of
honey there is a special sort called by the Greek
word meaning * smokeless.*

459

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

46 XVI. Fetus quonam modo progenerarent magna
inter eruditos et subtilis fait quaestio; apium enim
coitus visus est numquam. plures existimavere ore
confingi floribus compositis l calami 2 atque olivae 3 ;
aliqui coitu unius, qui rex in quoque appelletur
examine; hunc esse solum marem, praecipua
magnitudine, ne fatiscat: ideo fetum sine eo non
edi, apesque reliquas tamquam marem feminas
comitari, non tamquam ducem, quam probabilem
alias sententiam fucorum proventus coarguit ; quae
enim ratio ut idem coitus aliosperfectos,4inperfectos

47 generet alios ? propior vero prior existimatio fieret,
ni rursus alia difficultas ocurreret : quippe nascuntur
aliquando in extremis favis apes grandiores quae
ceteras fugant. oestrus vocatur hoc malum —

48 quonam modo nascens si ipsae fingunt? quod
certum est, gallinarum modo incubant. id quod
exclusum est primo vermiculus videtur candidus,
iacens transversus adhaerensque ita ut pars cerae
videatur. rex statim mellei colons, ut electo flore ex
omni copia factus, neque vermiculus sed statim
pinniger. cetera turba cum formam capere coepit,

49 nymphae vocantur, ut fuci sirenes aut cephenes. si

1 v,L compositas.

2 calami add. pettefsen.

3 olivae ex Aristotele Dettefsen : utiliter.
* v.L om. alios perfectos.

a Cf. § 27 n.
460

BOOK XL xvi. 46-49

XVI. There has been a great deal of minute Reproduction
enquiry among the learned as to the manner in ^^
which bees reproduce their species; for sexual ««>•
intercourse among them has never been observed.
A majority of authorities have held the view that
the offspring are formed in the mouth, by blending
together blossoms of the reed and the olive ; some
think it is by copulation with a single male which in
each swarm is called the king; and that this is the
only male, and is of exceptional size, so as not to
grow weary ; and that consequently offspring is not
produced without him, and the rest of the bees
accompany him as women accompany a husband,
not as their leader. This view, though probable Selection of
on other grounds, is refuted by the production of^"r* kinff'
drones ; for what reason can there be why the same
act of union should engender some perfect offspring
and others imperfect? The former opinion would
be nearer to the truth, were it not that again another
difficulty meets us : it is a fact that sometimes larger
bees are born in the extremities of the combs which
drive away all the rest. This mischievous creature is varieties of
called a gadfly — being born in what possible manner if ^fa***
the female bees themselves shape it? One certain
fact is that they sit on their eggs in the way that hens
do. The offspring hatched at first looks like a white
maggot, lying crosswise and sticking so closely to
the wax that it seems to be part of it. The king is
from the start of the colour of honey, as if made
from a special blossom chosen out of the whole
supply, and is not a maggot but has wings from the
start. The remaining throng when they begin to
take shape are called pupae, while the sham ones a are
called sirens or drones. If anybody takes the heads

46*

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quis alterutris capita demat priusquam pennas ha-
beant , pro gratissimo sunt pabnlo matribus . tempore
procedente instillant cibos atque incubant, turn
maxime murmuranteSj caloris, ut putant, faciendi
gratia necessarii excludendis pullis, donee ruptis
membranis quae singulos cingunt ovorum modo uni-
versum agmen emergat. spectatum hoc Romae
consularis cuiusdam suburbano alvis cornu lanternae

50 tralucido factis. fetus intra XLV diem peragitur.
fit in fa vis quibusdam qui vocatur clavus, amarae
duritia cerae, cum fetum inde non eduxere, morbo
aut ignavia aut infecunditate natural! ; hie est
abortus apium. protinus aut em educti operantur
quadam disciplina cum matribus, regemque iuvenem

51 aequalis turba comitatur. reges plures inchoantur,
ne desint I ; postea ex his suboles cum adulta esse
coepit, concorde sufFragio deterrimos necant, ne
distrahant agmina. duo autem genera eorum, melior
rufus, deterior2 niger 'variusque. omnibus forma
semper egregia et duplo quam ceteris maior, pennae
breviores, crura recta, ingressus celsior, in fronte ma-
cula quodam diademate candicans; multum etiam
nitore a volgo differunt.

52 XVIL Quaerat nunc aliquis, unusne Hercules
fuerit et quot Liberi patres et reliqua vetustatis situ

1 Hermolaus : nee destmt.

2 Tufus deterior add. Jan (mfus quam Hermolaus).
462

BOOK XL xvr. 49-xvn. 52

off specimens of either kind before they have wings,
they serve as very acceptable food for their mothers.
As time goes on they give them drops of food and Hatching of
sit on them, buzzing more than at any other time, grubs'
with the object,- it is thought, of producing the
warmth needed for hatching out the grubs, until
they break the membranes that enclose each of them
like eggshells and the whole band emerges. This
was observed at Rome on the suburban estate of a
certain ex-consul, who had hives made of the
transparent horn of a lantern. The brood grows up
in about six weeks. In some hives what is called a
wart is formed, a hard lump of bitter wax, when the
bees have not produced offspring out of the comb,
owing to disease or sloth or natural infertility ; this
is the bees' form of abortidn. But as soon as they
are hatched out they get to work with their mothers
under some sort of tuition, and the youthful king is
escorted by a retinue of his peers. Several kings section of
are begun to be produced, so that there may not be &*"** king*
a lack of them ; but afterwards, when the offspring
sprung from these has begun to be grown up, by a
unanimous vote they kill the worst of them so that
they may not divide up the forces. They are of two
kindsy the better sort red and the inferior kind black
or speckled. All of them are always exceptionally
well-formed and twice as large as the others ; their
wings are shorter, their legs straight, their bearing
more lofty, and they have a spot on their brow that
shines white in a kind of fillet; they also differ from
the common herd a great deal by their brilliant colour.

XVII. Now let somebody raise the questions g
whether Hercules was one person and how many His
Father Libers there were, and all the ot&er puzxles

463

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

obruta! ecce in re parva villisque nostris adnexa,
cuius adsidue copia est, non const at inter auctores,
rex nullumne solus habeat aculeum maiestate
tantum armatus, an dederit quidem euro, natura, sed
usum eius illi tantum negaverit. illud constat,

53 imperatorem aculeo non uti. mira plebei circa eum
obedientia. cum procedit, una est totum examen
circaque eum globatur, cingit, protegit, cerni non
patitur. reliquo tempore, cum populus in labore est,
ipse opera intus circumdt, similis exhortanti, solus
immunis. circa eum satellites quidam lictoresque

54 adsidui custodes auctoritatis. procedit foras non
nisi migraturo examine ; id multo intellegitur ante,
aliquot diebus murmur e intus strep ente, apparatus
indice diem tempestivum eligentium. si quis alam
ei detruncet, non fugiat examen. cum processere,
se quaeque proximam illi cupit esse et in officio
conspici gaudet; fessum umeris sublevant, validius
fatigatum ex toto portant. si qua lassata defecit aut
forte aberravit, odore persequitur. ubicumque ille
consedit, ibi cunctarum castra sunt.

65 XVIII. Tune ostenta faciunt privata ac publica
464

BOOK XI. xvii. 52-xvin. 55

buried beneath the litter of antiquity ! Here on a
trifling matter connected with our own country-
houses, a thing constantly in evidence, there is no
agreement among the authorities — the question
whether the king bee alone has no sting and is
armed only with the grandeur of his office, or whether
nature has indeed bestowed one upon him but has
merely denied him the use of it. It is a well
established fact that the ruler does not use a sting.
The commons surround him with a marvellous
obedience. When he goes in procession, the whole
swarm accompanies him and is massed around him
to encircle and protect him, not allowing him to be
seen. During the rest of the time, while the people
are engaged in labour, he himself goes the circuit
of the works inside, with the appearance of
urging them on, while he alone is free from duty.
He is surrounded by certain retainers and lictors as
the constant guardians of his authority. He only
issues abroad when the swarm is about to migrate ;
intelligence of this is given long before, as a buzzing
noise has been going on for some days in the hive, a
sign of 'their preparation while they are selecting a
suitable day. If anybody should cut off one of his
wings, the swarm would not run away. When they
have started, each one wants to be next him and
delights to be seen on duty ; when he is tired they
support him with their shoulders, and carry him
entirely if he is more completely exhausted. Any
bee that falls out from weariness or happens to stray
from the main body, follows on by scent.. Wherever
the king alights is the camping place of the whole
body.

XVIII. Moreover they supply private and public

465

VOL. III. H H

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

uva dependente in domibus templisque, saepe ex-
piata magnis eventibus. sedere in ore infantis turn
etiam Ptatonis, suavitatem illam praedulcis eloquii
portendentes ; sedere in castris Drusi imperatoris
cum prosperrime pugnatum apud Arbalonem est,
haut quaquam perpetua haruspicum coniectura, qui

56 dirum id ostentum existimant semper, duce prenso
totum tenetur agmen, amisso dilabitur migratque
ad alios ; esse utique sine rege non possunt. invitae
autem interemunt eos cum plures fuere, potlusque
nascentium domos diruunt. si proventus desperatur,

57 tune et fucos abigunt. quamquam et de his video
dubitari propriumque iis genus esse aliquos existi-
mare, sicut furibus, grandissimis inter illos sed nigris
lataque alvo, ita appellatis quia furtim devorent
mella. certum est ab apibus fucos interfici ; utique
regem non habent aequo modo x ; si 2 sine* aculeo
nascantur in quaestione est.

58 Umido vere melior fetus, sicco mel copiosius.
quod si defecit aliquas alvos cibus, impetum in proxi-
mas faciunt rapinae proposito ; at illae contra
dirigunt aciem, et si custos adsit, alterutra pars quae
sibi fa vere sensit non adpetit eum. ex aliis quoque

1 aequo modo cum praec. edd. : et CLUO modo.

2 si add. Jan.

466

BOOK XL xvm. 55-58

portents when a cluster of them hangs suspended in Portents
houses and temples, portents that have often been f%£ **
expiated by great events. They alighted on the
mouth of Plato even when he was still an infant,
portending the charm of that matchless eloquence ;
and they alighted in the camp of General
Drusus on the occasion of the very successful battle
of Arbalo — as there are certainly exceptions to the
interpretation of the augurs, who invariably think
this a direful portent. The capture of the leader A Mng
holds up the whole body, and when they have lost l£fatpens~
him they separate and migrate to other lords; in
any case they are unable to be without a king.
But when the kings have become too numerous
they reluctantly destroy them, and by preference
they destroy their homes while they are being born.
If a supply of honey is despaired of, then they even
drive away the drones. Nevertheless I see that Function of
there is a doubt about these also, and that some drone**
persons think them to form a breed of their own,
like the robber-bees, the largest in size among the
drones but black and with a broad belly, which have
this designation because they steal and devour the
honey. It is certain that the drones are killed by
the bees *, at all events they do not have a king in
the same way as the other bees do ; but whether they
are born without a sting is a doubtful point.

Bees breed better in a damp spring, but produce #<w
more honey in a dry one. If there is a dearth of yS£.9
food for some hives, they make a raid on their *£&*°f
neighbours for the purpose of plunder ; but the bees
attacked form in line of battle to resist, and if the
bee-keeper is present whichever side thinks that he
favours it does not attack him. They also often

467

HH2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

saepe dimicant causis, duasque acies contrarias duo
imperatores instruunt, maxime rixa in convehendis
floribus exorta et suos quibusque evocantibus ; quae
dimicatio iniectu pulveris aut fumo tota discutitur,
reconciliatur vero lacte vel aqua mulsa.

59 XIX. Apes sunt et rusticae silvestresque. horridae
aspectu, multo iracundiores, sed opere ac labore
praestantes. urbanarum duo genera: optimae
breves variaeque et in rotunditatem conpactiles,
deteriores longae et quibus similitudo vesparum,
etiamnum deterrimae ex iis pilosae. in Ponto sunt
quaedam albae quae bis in mense mella faciunt;
circa Thermodontem autem fluvium duo genera,
aliarum quae in arboribus mellificant, aliarum quae
sub terra triplici cerarum ordine, uberrimi proventus.

60 Aculeum apibus dedit natura ventri consertum
ad unum ictum; hoc infixo quidam eas statim
emori putant, aliqui non nisi in tantum adacto ut
intestini quippiam sequatur3 sed fucos postea esse
nee mella facere velut castratis viribus pariterque
et nocere et prodesse desinere. est in exemplis

61 equus * ab iis occisus.2 odere foedos odores proculque
fugiunt, sed et fictos; itaque unguenta redolentes
infest ant. ipsae plurimorum animalium iniuriis ob-

1 MayJwffi equos.

2 v.L occisos.

468

BOOK XL xvni. 58-xxix. 61

fight battles for other reasons, and form in two
opposing lines under two commanders, the chief -
source of quarrel arising while they are collecting
flowers, and each party calling out their friends;
but the combat can be entirely scattered by some
dust being thrown on it or by smoke, while a
reconciliation can be effected by some milk or water
sweetened with honey.

XIX. There are also wild and forest bees, which
are of a bristly appearance, and are much more
irascible but of superior industry and diligence. be*s-
Domesticated bees are of two kinds ; the best are
short and speckled and of a compact round shape,
and the inferior ones are long and have a resemblance
to wasps, and also the worst among them are hairy.
In Pontus there is a white kind that makes honey
twice in a month; and in the neighbourhood
of the river Thermodon there are two kinds, one that
makes honey in trees and the other that makes it
underground in a threefold arrangement of combs,
and is most lavishly productive.

Nature has given bees a sting attached to the jfe«' we of
stomach, designed for a single blow ; certain persons stin5'
think that when they have planted their sting they
at once die, while some hold that this only occurs if
it is driven in so far that some of the gut follows it,
but that afterwards the bees are drones and do not
make honey, as though their strength had been
castrated, and they cease at the same time both to
hurt and to benefit. There is a case of a horse being
killed by bees. Bees hate foul smells and flee far
away from them, even those not due to natural
causes; consequently they attack people scented
with perfumes. They * themselves are liable to bees.

469

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

noxiae. inpugnant eas naturae eiusdern degeneres
vespae atque crabrones, etiam e culicum genere qui
vocantur muliones, populantur hirundines et quaedam
aliae aves ; insidiantur aquantibus ranae, quae
maxima earum est operatic turn cum subolem

62 faciunt. nee eae tantum quae stagna rivosque
obsident, verum et rubetae veniunt ultro adrepentes-
que foribus per eas sufflant ; ad hoc statio provolat
confestimque abripitur; nee sentire ictus apium
ranae traduntur. inimicae et oves difficile se e lanis
earum explicantibus. cancrorum etiam odores si

- quis iuxta coquat, exanimantur.

63 XX. Quin et morbos suapte natura sentiunt.
index eorum tristitia torpens, et cum ante fores in
teporem solis promotis aliae cibos ministrant et 1 cum
defunctas progerunt funerantiumque more comitan-
tur exequias, rege ea peste consumpto maeret
plebes ignavo dolore, non cibos convehens, non
procedens ; tristi tantum murmure glomeratur circa
corpus eius. subtrahitur itaque diductae multitu-
dini ; alias spectantes exanimem luctum non minuunt.
tune quoque, ni subveniatur, fame moriuntur.
hilaritate igitur et nitore sanitas aestimatur.

64 Sunt et operis morbi: cum favos non explent,

1 et add,. EaclcTtam.
470

BOOK XL xxix. 6i-xx. 64

injuries from very many creatures. Wasps and
hornets which are degenerate species of the same
nature attack them, as also do the species of gnat
called mule-flies. Swallows and some other birds
ravage them. Frogs He in wait for them when they
are getting water, which is their most important
task at the period when they are producing offspring.
And not only the frogs that beset ponds and rivers
but also toads come of their own accord and crawling
up to the doorways blow through them ; thereupon
the guard flies out and is immediately snapped up ;
and it is said that frogs do not feel a bee's sting.
Sheep too are the enemies *of bees, which with
difficulty disentangle themselves from their wool.
Also the smell of crabs being boiled near them is
fatal to them.

XX. Moreover bees suffer diseases due to their own -0w«w« of
nature. A symptom of these is a gloomy torpidity,
both when they are brought out before the doorway
into the warmth of the sun and food is served to
them by others and when they die and the others
carry them out and escort their obsequies in the
manner of persons conducting a funeral. When this
pestilence carries off the king the commons mourn
with abject grief, not collecting food and not going
out of the hive ; they only mass themselves round
his body with a sorrowful buzzing. Consequently
the throng is separated and he is taken away from
it ; otherwise they keep gazing at his lifeless body
and never stop mourning. Then also, unless help is
brought to them, they die of hunger. Consequently
their health is judged by their gaiety and bright-
ness.

There are also diseases that affect their work:

471

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

claron vocant, item blapsigonian si fetum non
peragant.

65 XXI. Inimica et echo est resultanti sono qui
pavidas alterno pulset ictu; inimica et nebula,
aranei quoque vel maxime hostiles : cum praevaluere
ut intexant, enecant alvos. papilio etiam, hie 1
ignavus et inhonoratus luminibus accensis advolitans,
pestifer, nee uno modo, nam et ipse ceras depascitur
et relinquit excrementa e quibus teredines gig-
mmtur; fila etiam araneosa, quacumque incessit,

66 alarum maxime lanugine obtexit. nascuntur et in
ipso ligno teredines quae ceras praecipue adpetunt.
infestat et aviditas pastus, nimia florum satietate
verno maxume tempore alvo cita. oleo quidem non
apes tantum sed omnia insecta exanimantur3 praeci-

67 pue si capite uncto in sole ponantur. aliquando et
ipsae contrahunt mortis sibi causas, cum sensere
eximi mella, avide vorantes, cetero praeparcae et
quae alioqui prodigas atque edaces non secus ac
pigras et ignavas proturbent. nocent et sua mella
ipsis, inlitaeque ab aversa parte moriuntur, tot
hostibus, tot casibus — et quotam portionem eorum
commemoro ? — tarn munificum animal expositum est*
remedia dicemus suis locis; nunc enim sermo de
natura est.

1 Me om. v.l.

a The disease now called ' foul brood.*
6 Papilio includes moths; here it means the pipe-moth
which, breeds in bee-hives.

47*

BOOK XL xx. 64-xxi. 67

when they do not fill the combs full, it is called claron,
and blapsigonia a if they do not bring their offspring
to maturity.

XXI. Also an echo is detrimental to bees with its Enemies of
repercussion that alarms them by striking them with ^langers^
an alternating blow; fog too is detrimental. Also
spiders are in the highest degree hostile; when
they have succeeded in weaving a web over the
combs they kill the grubs. Even the moth,6 that
cowardly and ignoble creature that flutters up to
lamps when they are lit, brings disaster, and not in
one way only, for it both devours the combs itself and
leaves excrement from which grubs are produced;
also wherever it walks it weaves a covering of cobwebs
chiefly made from the down on its wings. Moreover
moths are born in the wood itself that specially
attack the combs. And another bane is their greed
for food, as their belly is moved, specially in the
spring time, by their devouring a surfeit of flowers.
Olive oil indeed kills not only bees but all insects,
especially if they are placed in the sun after their
head has been anointed. Sometimes also they
themselves cause their own death, by greedily
devouring ^honey when they perceive that it is being
taken away, whereas normally they are extremely
thrifty and make a practice of driving away wasteful
and greedy bees just the same as lazy and slothful
ones. Also their own honey is noxious to them, and
if it is smeared on their backs they die. To so many
foes and so many disasters — and how small a fraction
of them I am recounting ! — is this beneficent creature
exposed. The remedies we will speak of in their
proper places ; for at present we are discussing their
nature.

473

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

68 XXII. Gaudent plausu atque tinnitu aeris, eoque
convocantur; quo manifestum est auditus quoque
inesse sensum. effecto opere, educto fetu, functae
munere omni exercitationem tamen sollemnem
habent, spatiataeque in aperto et in altum elatae,
gyris volatu editis, turn demum ad cibum redeunt.

69 vita iis longissima, ut prospere inimica ac fortuita
cedant, septenis annis. universas 1 alvos numquam
ultra decem annos durasse proditur. sunt qui
mortuas, si intra tectum hieme serventur, dein sole
verno torreantur ac ficulneo cinere tepido foveantur,

70 putent revivescere ; XXIII. in totum vero amissas
reparari ventribus bubulis recentibus cum fimo
obrutas,2 Vergilius iuvencorum corpore exanimato,
sicut equorum vespas atque crabrones, sicut asino-
rum scarabaeos, mutante natura ex aliis quaedam
in alia, sed horum omnium coitus cernuntur, et
tamen in fetu eadem prope natura quae apibus.

71 XXIV. Vespae in sublimi e luto nidos faciunt, in
his ceras; crabrones cavernis aut sub terra; et
horum omnium sexangulae cellae, cerae^ autem e
cortice, araneosae. fetus ipse inaequalis et 3 varius,4
alius evolat, alius in nympha est, alius in vermiculo ;
et autumno, non vere, omnia ea. plenilunio maxime

72 crescunt. vespae quae ichneumones vocantur —

1 Madvig : universa. a Mayhoff ? : obrutis.

'^.tit.

* Detlefsen : barbarus aut barbaris.

« Oeorgics IV 284 ff.
474

BOOK XL xxii. 68~xxiv. 72
XXII. They delight in the clash and clang of Noises to

i iTiiTii ,«. i • -L summon

bronze, and collect together at its summons ; which bees.
shows that they also possess the sense of hearing.
When their work is done and their brood reared,
though they have accomplished all their duty they
nevertheless have a ritual exercise to perform, and
they range abroad in the open and soar on high,
tracing circles in flight, and only when this is finished
do they return to take food. Their life at longest, Life
granted that hostile attacks and accidents arel
encountered successfully, lasts seven years. It l& of dead bee*.
stated that the hives have never lasted in then-
entirety beyond ten years. Some people think that
dead bees come to life again if they are kept indoors
in winter and then exposed to the heat of the sun
in spring and kept warm with hot fig-wood ashes;
XXIII. but that when entirely lost they can be
restored by being covered with fresh ox-paunches
together with mud, or according to Virgil c with the
dead body of bullocks, just as wasps and hornets are
brought to life from horses' bodies and beetles from
those of asses, since nature can change some things
from one kind into another. But all these creatures
are seen to pair, and nevertheless their offspring
possess almost the same nature as that of bees.

XXIV. Wasps make their nests high up, of mud,
and in them make cells of wax ; hornets make them
in caverns or underground; all of these have
hexagonal cells, and make their combs of bark, like
spiders' webs. * The actual offspring are not uniform
but vary — one flies out while another is in the pupa
and another in the grub ; and all of these stages are
in the autumn, not the spring. They grow chiefly at
full moon. The wasps caHed ichneumon-flies — they

475

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sunt autem minores quam aliae— unum genus ex
araneis peremunt phalangium appellatum et in
nidos suos ferunt, deinde inlinunt et ex his incubando
suum genus procreant. praeterea omnes carne
vescuntur contra quam apes quae nullum corpus
attingunt. sed vespae muscas grandiores venantur
amputatoque iis capite reliquom corpus auferunt.

73 Crabronum silvestres in arborum cavernis degunt,
hi erne ut cetera insecta conduntur, vita bimatum
non transit, ictus eorum haud temere sine febri
est. auctores sunt ter novenis punctis interfici
hominem. aliorum qui mitiores videntur duo genera :
opifices, minores corpore, qui moriuntur hi erne, matres

74 quae biennio durant; hi et clementes. nidos vere
faciunt fere quadrifores, in quibus opifices generentur.
his eductis alios deinde maiores nidos fingunt, in
quibus matres futuras iam producant. turn x opifices
funguntur munere et pascunt eas. latior matrum
species, dubiumque an habeant aculeos, quia non
egrediuntur. et his sui fuel, quidam opinantur
omnibus his ad hiemem decidere aculeos. nee
crabronum autem nee vesparum generi reges aut
examina, sed subinde renovatur multitudo subole.

75 XXV. Quartum inter haec genus est bombycum,
in Assyria proveniens, maius quam supra dicta, nidos
luto fingunt salis specie, adplicatos lapidi, tanta
dtiritia ut spiculis perforari vix possint. in his

1 MayJioff (?) : producant. iam turn.

a Three times three times three is of course a magic number.
476

BOOK XL xxiv. 72-xxv. 75

are smaller than the others — kill one kind of spider
called phalangium and carry them to their nests and
then smear them over, and from these by incubating
produce their own species. Moreover they all feed
on flesh, contrary to bees which never touch a body.
But wasps hunt larger flies and after cutting off
their heads carry away the rest of the body.

The forest variety of hornets live in hofiow trees, Hornet*.
hibernating in winter like the rest of insects ; they
do not live beyond the age of two. Their sting is
rarely not followed by fever. Some authorities state
that twenty-seven a hornet-stings will kill a human
being. Another kind that seems less fierce has two
classes — workers, smaller in size, which die in winter,
and mothers, which last two years: these are not
fierce at all. They make nests in spring, usually with
four entrances, in which to breed the workers. When
these have been reared, they then make other larger
nests, in which they may now produce those who are
to be mothers. Then the workers begin to function,
and feed the mothers. The mothers are of a wider
shape, and it is doubtful whether they possess stings,
because they do not come out. These also have
their drones. Some people hold the view that all
these insects lose their stings- towards winter,
Neither the hornet nor the wasp kind have kings,
nor do they swarm, but their numbers are continually
renewed by offspring.

XXV. Among these is a fourth genus, the silk- Tfow-
moth, which occurs in Assyria; it is larger than the ^^y
kinds mentioned above. Silk-moths make their nests reproduction.
of mud like a sort of salt ; they are attached to a
stone, and are so hard that they can scarcely be
pierced with javelins. In these nests they make

477

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ceras largius quam apes faciunt, dein maiorem
vermiculum.

76 XXVI. Et alia hortim origo. ex grandiore vermi-
culo gemina protendens sui generis cornua primum a
urica fit, dein quod vocatur bombylis, ex ea necy-
dallus, ex hoc in sex mensibus bombyx. telas
araneorum modo texunt ad vestem luxumque
feminarum, quae bombycina appellatur. prima eas
redordiri rursusque texere invenit in Coo mulier
Pamphile, Plateae filia, non fraudanda gloria ex-
cogitatae rationis ut denudet feminas vestis.

77 XXVII. Bombycas et in Coo insula nasci tradunt,
cupressi, terebinthi, fraxini, quercus florem imbribus
decussum terrae halitu animante. fieri autem.
primo papiliones parvos nudosque, mox frigorum
inpatientia villis inhorrescere et adversus hiemem
tunicas sibi instaurare densas, pedum asperitate
radentes foliorum lanuginem, in vellera hanc ab iis
cogi subigique unguium carminatione, mox trahi
in tramas,2 tenuari ceu pectine, postea adprehensam

78 corpori involvi nido volubili. turn ab homine tolli
fictilibusque in3 vasis tepore et furfurum esca nutriri,
atque ita subnasci sui generis plumas, quibus vestitos
ad alia pensa dimitti. quae vero carpta 4 sint lanicia 5
umore lentescere, mox in fila tenuari iunceo fuso.

1 Hardouin : cornuum.

2 Jan : inter r&mos.

3 in add. ? Mayhoff.

4 Detlefsen : oapta.

5 Jan : lanifica aut lanificia.

478

BOOK XL xxv. 75-xxvn. 78

combs on a larger scale than bees do, and then
produce a bigger grub.

XXVI. These creatures are also produced in invention of
another way. A specially large grub changes into"1*'
a caterpillar with two projecting horns of a peculiar
kind, and then into what is called a cocoon, and this
turns into a chrysalis and this in six months into a
silk-moth. They weave webs like spiders, producing
a luxurious material for women's dresses, called silk
The process of unravelling these and weaving the
thread again was first invented in Cos by a woman
named Pamphile, daughter of Plateas, who has the
undeniable distinction of having devised a pkn to
reduce women's clothing to nakedness.

XXVIL Silk-moths are also reported to be born in The Com
the island of Cos, where vapour out of the ground industry.
creates life in the blossom of the cypress, terebinth,
ash and oak that has been stripped off by rain. First
however, it is said, small butterflies are produced
that are bare of down, and then as they cannot endure
the cold they grow shaggy tufts of hair and equijp
themselves with thick jackets against winter, scraping
together the down of leaves with the roughness of
their feet; this is compressed by them into fieeees
and worked over by carding with their claws, and
then drawn out into woof-threads, and thinned out as
if with a comb, and afterwards taken hold of and
wrapped round their body in a coiled nest. Then
(they say) they are taken away by a man, put in
earthenware vessels and reared with warmth and a
diet of bran, and so a peculiar kind of feathers
sprout out, clad with which they are sent out to
other tasks ; but tufts of wool plucked off are softened
with moisture and then thinned out into threads with

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nee puduit has vestes usurpare etiam viros levitatem
propter aestivam : in tantum a lorica gerenda disces-
sere mores ut oneri sit etiam vestis. Assyria tamen
bombyce adhuc feminis cedimus.

79 XXVIII. Araneorum his non absurde iungatur
natura digna vel praecipua admiratione. plura
autem sunt genera nee dictu necessaria in tanta
notitia. phalangia ex iis appellantur quorum noxii
morsus, corpus exiguum, varium, acuminatum,
adsultim ingredientium. altera eorum species nigri
prioribus cruribus longissimis. omnibus internodia

80 terna in cruribus. luporum minimi' non texunt;
maiores in terra, et cavernis exigua vestibula praepan-
dunt. tertium eorundem genus erudita operatione
conspicuum; orditur telas tantique operis materiae
uterus ipsius sufficit, sive ita corrupta alvi natura
stato tempore, ut Democrito placet, sive est quaedam
intus lanigera fertilitas: tarn moderato ungue,
tarn tereti filo et tarn aequali deducit stamina,

81 ipso se pondere usus. texere a medio incipit cir-
cinato orbe subtemina adnectens, maculasque paribus
semper intervallis sed subinde crescentibus ex
angusto dilatans indissolubili nodo inplicat. quanta
arte celat pedicas scutulato 1 rete grassantes !

1 v.l. a scutulato.

a The legs have three pieces, internodia,
b Aristotle Hist. An. ix 39, 623a 30; Aristotle adopts the
alternative view here given.

480

BOOK XL xxvn. 78-xxvm. 81

a rush spindle. Nor have even men been ashamed to
make use of these dresses, because of their lightness
in summer: so far have our habits departed from
wearing a leather cuirass that even a robe is con-
sidered a burden ! All the same we so far leave the
Assyrian silk-moth to women.

XXVIII. To these may be not ineptly joined the
nature of spiders, which deserves even exceptional
admiration. There are several kinds of spiders,
but they need not be described, as they are so well
known. The name of phalangium is given to a
kind of spider that has a harmful bite and a small
body of variegated colour and pointed shape, and
advances by leaps and bounds. A second species
of spider is black, with very long fore legs. All
spiders have legs with two joints.0 Of the wolf-
spiders the smallest do not weave a web, but the
larger ones live in the ground and spin tiny ante-
rooms in front of their holes. A third kind of the
same species is remarkable for its scientific method
of construction ; it sets up its warp-threads, and its
own womb suffices to supply the material needed
for this considerable work, whether because the
substance of its intestines is thus resolved at a fixed
time, as Democritus holds,& or because it has inside
it some power of producing wool : with such careful
use of its claw and such a smooth and even thread it
spins the warp, employing itself as a weight. It
starts weaving at the centre, twining in the woof in
a circular round, and entwists the meshes in an
unloosable knot, spreading them out at intervals
that are always regular but continually grow less
narrow. How skilfully it conceals the snares that
lurk in its checkered net! How unintentional

481

VOL. III. 1 1

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quam non ad hoc videtur pertinere crebratae pexitas
telae et quadam politurae arte ipsa per se tenax
ratio tramae! quam laxus ad flatus ad1 non res-

82 puenda quae veniant sinus ! derelicta a 2 lasso
praetendi summa parte arbitrere licia: at ilia
difficile cernuntur atque ut in plagis lineae offensae
praecipitant in sinum. specus ipse qua concamaratur
architectura ! et contra frigora quanto 3 villosior !
quam remotus a medio aliudque agentis similis,
inclusus vero sic ut sit necne intus aliquis cerni non

83 possit! age firmitas, quando rumpentibus ventis,
qua pulverum mole degravante ? latitude telae saepe
inter duas arbores, cum exercet artem et discit
texere, longitude fili a cacumine,4 ac rursus a terra
per illud ipsum velox reciprocatio, subitque pariter ac
fila deducit. cum vero captura incidit, quam vigilans
et paratus accursus ! licet extrema haereat plaga,
semper in medium currit, quia sic maxime totum

84 concutiendo implicat. scissa protinus reficit ad
polituram sarciens. ranarumque 5 et lacertarum
catulos venantur os primum tela involventes et tune
demum labra utraque morsu adprehendentes, amphi-
theatrali spectaculo cum contigit. sunt ex eo et
auguria: quippe incremento amnium futuro telas

1 ad edd. vet : ac.

2 a add. Rackham.

3 edd. : quando.

4 DeUe/sen : acumine (a culmine edd.).
6 Mayhoff ? c/. Ar. : namque.

482

BOOK XL xxvm. 81-84

appears to be the density of the close warp and the
plan of the woof, rendered by a sort of scientific
smoothing automatically tenacious 1 How its bosom
bellies to the breezes so as not to reject things that
come to it ! You might think the threads had been
left by a weary weaver stretching in front at the top ;
but they are difficult to see, and, like the cords in
hunting-nets, when the quarry comes against them
throw it into the bosom of the net. With what
architectural skill is the vaulting of the actual cave
designed! and how much more hairy it is made, to
give protection against cold ! How distant it is from
the centre, and how its intention is concealed,
although it is really so roofed in that it is impossible
to see whether somebody is inside or not ! Then its
strength — when is it broken by the winds? what
quantity of dust weighs it down ? When the spider
is practising its art and learning to weave, the
breadth of the web often reaches between two trees
and the length of the thread stretches down from
the top of the tree and there is a quick return right
up the thread from the ground, and the spider goes
up and brings down the threads simultaneously.
But when a catch falls into the web, how watchfully
and alertly it runs to it ! although it may be clinging
to the edge of the net, it always runs to the middle,
because in that way it entangles the prey by shaking
the whole. When the web is torn it at once restores
it to a finished condition by patching it. And spiders
actually hunt young frogs and lizards, first wrapping
up their mouth with web and then finally gripping
both lips with their jaws, giving a show worthy of the
amphitheatre when it comes off. Also auguries ^e
obtained from the spider: for instance, when the

4%
n2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

suas altius tollunt; idem sereno texunt,1 nubilo
retexuntj2 ideoque multa aranea imbrium signa sunt.
feminam putant esse quae texat, marem qui venetur ;
ita paria fieri merita coniugio.

85 XXIX. Aranei conveniunt clunibus, pariunt ver-
miculos ovis similes — nam nee horum, differri potest
genitura, quoniam inseclorum vix ulla alia ratio 3
est ; pariunt autem omnia in tela, set sparsa, quia
saliunt atque ita emittunt. phalangia tantum in
ipso specu incubant magnum numerum qui, ut
emersit, matrem consumit, saepe et patrem, adiuvat
enim incubare. pariunt autem et tricenos, ceterae
pauciores; et incubant triduo. consummantur
aranei quater septenis diebus.

86 XXX. Similiter his et scorpiones terrestres ver-
miculos ovorum specie pariunt similiterque pereunt,
pestis inportuna, veneni serpentium nisi quod
graviore supplicio lenta per triduum morte conficiunt,
virginibus letali semper ictu et feminis fere in totum,
viris autem matutino, exeuntes cavernis, prius-
quam aliquo fortuito ictu ieiunum egerant venenum.

87 semper cauda in ictu est nulloque momento meditari
cessat, ne quando desit occasioni; ferit et obliquo
ictu et inflexo. venenum ab his candidum fundi

1 v.L retexunt. 2 MayJwff ; texunt.

3 Mayhoff : narratio.

484

BOOK XL xxviii. 84-xxx. 87

rivers are going to rise they raise their webs higher ;
also they weave their web in fine weather and reweave
it in cloudy weather, and consequently a number of
spiders' webs is a sign of rain. People think that it
is the female that weaves and the male that hunts,
and that thus the married pair do equal shares of
service.

XXIX. Spiders couple with the haunches, and Reproduction
produce grubs resembling eggs — for their mode of °f*ptdfr*'
reproduction also must not be deferred, as insects

have scarcely any other method ; and they lay them
all into their webs, but scattered, because they jump
about and lay them in the process. The phalangium
spiders only incubate in the actual cave a large
number of grubs which when hatched out devour the
mother, and often the father too, for he helps to
incubate. They produce broods of as many as three
hundred, whereas all the other kinds produce fewer ;
and they sit on the eggs three days. They take
four weeks to become foil-grown spiders.

XXX. Land scorpions also like spiders produce Lmd
grubs resembling eggs and die in the same way as
spiders; they are a horrible plague, poisonous like
snakes, except that they inflict a worse torture by
despatching the victim with a lingering death lasting
three days, their wound being always fatal to girls
and almost absolutely so to women, but to men only

in the morning, when they are coming out of their
holes, before they emit their yet unsated poison by
some accidental stroke. Their tail is always en-
gaged in striking and does not stop practising at
any moment, lest it should ever miss an opportunity ;
it strikes both a sideway stroke and one with the
tail bent up. Apollodorus states that these insects

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Apollodorus auctor est in novem genera discriptis per
colores maxime, opere supervacuo,1 quondam non
est scire quos minime exitiales praedixerit ; geminos
quibusdam aculeos esse, maresque saevissimos —
nam coitum iis tribuit — intellegi autem gracilitate

88 et longitudine; venenum omnibus medio die cum
incanduere soils ardoribus, itemque cum sitiunt in-
explebile potus. constat et septena caudae inter-
nodia saeviorum2 esse; pluribus enim sena sunt.
hoc malum Africae volucre etiam austri faciunt
pandentibus bracchia ut remigia sublevantes ; Apol-
lodorus idem plane quibusdam inesse pinnas tradit.

89 saepe Psylli, qui reliquarum venena terrarum in-
vehentes quasi quaestus sui causa peregrinis malis
implevere Italiam, hos quoque importare conati
sunt, sed vivere intra Siculi caeli regionem non
potuere. visuntur tamen aliquando in Italia, sed
innocui, multisque aliis in locis ut circa Pharum in

90 Aegypto. in Scythia interemunt etiam sues alio-
quin vivaciores contra venena talia, nigras quidem
celerius, si in aquam se inmerserint. homini icto
putatur esse remedio ipsorum cinis potus in vino,
magnam adversitatem oleo mersis et stellionibus
putant esse, innocuis dumtaxat iis, qui et ipsi carent
sanguine, lacertarum figura ; aeque 8 scorpiones in

1 Mayhoff(?) : maxime supervacuos.
2 Mayhoff (?) : saeviora. 3 Mayhoff : atque,

a Lit. c with seven bones intermediate between joints,'
vertebrae.

fr I.e. in a more northerly climate than that of Sicily.
486

BOOK XI. xxx. 87-90

emit a white poison, and he divides them into
nine kinds, chiefly by their colours, a superfluous
task, since he does not let us know which he pro-
nounces to be the least deadly. He says that some
have a pair of stings, and that the males are fiercest —
for he attributes coupling to these creatures — but
that they can be recognized by their long slender
shape ; and that all are poisonous at midday, when
they have got hot from the warmth of the sun, and
also that when they are thirsty they cannot have their
fill of drinking. It is also agreed that those with six
joints a in the tail are more savage — for the majority
have five. This curse of Africa is actually given the Locality of
power of flight by a south wind, which supports scorp*on*-
their arms when they spread them out like oars;
Apollodorus before mentioned definitely states that
some possess wings. The Psylli tribe, who by im-
porting the poisons of all the other countries for their
own profit have filled Italy with foreign evils, have
tried to bring these creatures here also, but they
have proved unable to live this side of the climate
of Sicily.& Nevertheless they are sometimes seen
in Italy, though these are harmless, and in many
other places, for instance in the neighbourhood of
Pharos in Egypt. In Scythia they kill even pigs,
which normally are exceptionally immune to such
poisons, black pigs indeed more quickly, if they
plunge into water. For a human victim the ashes
of the creatures themselves drunk in wine are thought
to be a cure. It is thought that to be dipped in oil
is a great disaster to geckoes as well as scorpions ;
but geckoes at least are harmless; these too are
bloodless, and are shaped like a lizard; equally
scorpions are believed to do no harm whatever to

487

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

91 totum nullis * nocere quibus non sit sanguis. quidam
et ab ipsis fetum devorari arbitrantur ; urmm modo
relinqui sollertissimum et qui se ipsius matris clunibus
inponendo tutus et a cauda et a morsu loco fiat : hunc
esse reliquorum ultorem, qui postremo genitorem 2
superne conficiat. pariuntur autem undeni.

XXXI. Chamaeleonum stelliones hi quodammodo
naturam habent, rore tantum viventes praeterque
araneis.

92 XXXII. Similis cicadis vita, quarum duo genera :
minores quae primae proveniunt et novissimae
pereunt — sunt autem mutae; sequens est volatura
earum3 quae canunt: vocantur achetae et, quae
minores ex his sunt, tettigonia, sed illae magis
canorae. mares canunt in utroque genere, feminae
silent, gentes vescuntur his ad orientem, etiam
Parthi opibus abundantibus ; ante coitum mares
praeferunt, a coitu feminas, ovis earum corrupti,

93 quae sunt Candida, coitus supinis. asperitas prae-
acuta in dorso, qua excavant feturae locum in terra,
fit primo vermiculus, deinde ex eo quae vocatur tetti-
gornetra, cuius cortice rupto circa solstitia evolant,
noctu semper, primo nigrae atque durae. unum
hoc ex iis quae vivunt et sine ore est ; pro eo quiddam
aculeatorum linguis simile, et hoc in pectore, quo
rorem lambunt. pectus ipsum fistulosum; hoc

1 Dalec. : rnilli. 2 RackHiam : gerdtores.

3 earum add. Mayhoff.

a Cicada here stands for tte grass-hopper tribe in general.
488

BOOK XI. xxx. 90-xxxiL 93

any bloodless creatures. Some think that they also
devour their own offspring, and that only one is left,
a specially clever one that by perching on his mother's
haunches secures himself by this position against
both her tail and her bite ; and that this one is the
avenger of the rest, as he finally kills their parent
with a blow from above. They are produced in
broods of eleven.

XXXI. These geckoes in a certain manner have the
nature of chamaeleons, living only on dew and on
spiders as well.

XXXII. The life-history of the cicada a is similar.
Of this there are two kinds : the smaller ones that
come out first and perish latest — these however
are mute; subsequent is the flight of those that
sing : they are called Singers, and the smaller ones
among them grass-hoppers, but the former are more
vocal. The males hi either class sing, but the females
are silent. These creatures are used as food by the
Eastward races, even the Parthians with their
abundant resources; they prefer the males before
mating and the females afterwards, being seduced
by their eggs, which are white. They couple lying
on their backs. They have a very sharp prickliness
on the back, with which they hollow a place in the
ground for their offspring. This is produced first as
a grub, and then from this comes what is called the
larva ; at the period of the solstices they break the
shell of this and fly out, always at night ; at first
they are black and hard. This is the only living
creature actually without a mouth ; they have instead
a sort of row of prickles resembling tongues, this
also being on the breast, with which they lick the
dew. The breast itself forms a pipe ; the singers use

489

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

94 canunt achetae, ut dicemus. de cetero in ventre
nihil est. excitatae cum subvolant, umorem red-
dunt, quod solum argumentum est rore eas all;
isdem soils millum ad excrementa corporis foramen,
oculis tarn hebetes ut, si quis digitum contrahens ac
remittens adpropinquet iis, transeant velut folio 1
ludente.2 quidam duo alia genera faciunt earum,
surculariam quae sit grandior, frumentariam quam
alii avenariam vocant: apparet enim simul cum

95 frumentis arescentibus. cicadae non nascuntur in
raritate arborum — idcirco non sunt Cyrenis nisi 3
circa oppidum — nee in campis nee in frigidis aut
umbrosis nemoribus. est quaedam et his locorum
differentia : in Milesia regione paucis sunt locis, sed
in Cephallania amnis quidam paenuriam earum et
copiam dirimit ; at in Regino agro silent omnes, ultra
flumen in Locrensi canunt. pinnarum illis natura
quae apibus, sed pro corpore amplior.

96 XXXIII. Insectorum autem quaedam binas gerunt
pinnas, ut muscae, quaedam quaternas, ut apes,
membranis et cicadae volant, quaternas habent
quae aculeis in alvo armantur, nullum cui telum in
ore pluribus quam binis advolat pinnis : illis enim
ultionis causa datum est, his aviditatis. nullis
eorum pinnae revivescunt avulsae. nullum cui
aculeus in alvo bipinne est.

1 v.l. folia (in folia Hermolaus).
2 ludente add. ex Ar. Mayhoff. 3 nisi add. SchUnger.

* § 266.
49°

BOOK XL XXXIL 93-xxxm. 96

this to sing with, as we shall say.a For the rest, there
is nothing on the belly. When they are disturbed
and fly away, they give out moisture, which is the
only proof that they live on dew; moreover they are
the only creatures that have no aperture for the
bodily excreta. Their eyes are so dim that if any-
body comes near to them contracting and straighten-
ing out a finger, they pass by as if it were a leaf
flickering. Some people make two other classes of
tree-crickets, the twig-cricket which is the larger,
and the corn-cricket, which others call the oat-cricket,
because it appears at the same time as the crops
begin to dry. Tree-crickets do not occur where trees
are scarce — consequently they are not found at
Cyrenae except in the neighbourhood of the town —
nor in plains or in chilly or shady woods. These
creatures also make some difference between locali-
ties; in the district of Miletus they occur in few
places, but there is a river in Cephallania which makes
a boundary with a few of them on one side and many
on the other ; again in the Eeggio territory they are
all silent but beyond the river in the region of Locri
they sing. They have the same wing-structure as
bees, but larger in proportion to the body.

XXXIII. Of insects some have two wings,
instance, flies, and some four, for instance bees. tm«s».
The tree-cricket also flies with its membranes.
Those armed with a sting in the belly have four wings,
but none having a weapon in the mouth has more than
two wings to fly with, for the former have this weapon
bestowed on them for the sake of vengeance but the
latter for the purpose of greed. No insects' wings
when torn off grow again. None that has a sting in
the belly is two-winged.

491

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

97 XXXIV. Quibusdam pinnarum tutelae crusta
supervenit, ut scarabaeis, quorum tenuior fragilior-
que pinna, his negatus aculeus, sed in quodam genere
eorum grand! cornua praelonga, bisulca dentatis x
forficibus in cacumine, cum libuit, ad morsum
coeuntibus, infantium etiam remediis ex cervice

98 suspenduntur ; Lucanos vocat hos Nigidius. aliud
rursus eorum genus qui e fimo ingentis pilas aversi
pedibus volutant parvosque in iis contra rigorem
hiemis vermiculos fetus sui nidulantur. volitant alii
magno cum murmure aut mugitu, alii focos et
parietes 2 crebris foraminibus excavant nocturno
stridore vocales. lucent ignium modo noctu laterum
et clunium colore lampyrides, nunc pinnarum hiatu
refulgentes, nunc vero conpressu obumbratae, non
ante matura pabula aut post desecta conspicuae.

99 e contrario tenebrarum alumna blattis vita, lucemque
fugiunt, in balinearum3 maxime umido vapore
prognatae. fodiunt ex eodem genere rutili atque
praegrandes scarabaei tellurem aridam favosque
parvae et fistulosae modo spongiae medicato melle
fingunt. in Threcia iuxta Olynthum locus est parvus
quo unum hoc anima exanimatur, ob hoc Cantharo-

100 lethrus appellatus. pinnae insectis omnibus sine
scissura, nulli cauda nisi scorpioni. hie eorum
solus et bracchia habet et in cauda spiculum; reli-
quorum quibusdam aculeus,4 ut asilo (sive tabanum
dici placet), item culici et quibusdam muscis, omnibus

1 Brandis (cf. IX. 97) : bisulcis dentata.

2 Dettefsen (cf. § 13) : parata aut prata.

3 Mayhoff : baHneas aut balineis.

4 RackTiam : aculeus in ore.

a The stag-beetle. 6 The dor-beetle.

492

BOOK XL xxxiv. 97-100

XXXIV. In some species the wings are protected Varieties of
by an outer covering of shell, for instance beetles ; ^H^omu,
in these species the wing is thinner and more fragile, cockchafers!
They are not provided with a sting, but in one large
variety a of them there are very long horns, with two
prongs and toothed claws at the point which close
together at pleasure for a bite; they are actually
hung round children's jiecks as amulets; Nigidius
calls these Lucanian oxen. Another kind of them
again is one that rolls up backwards with its feet
vast balls of mud and nests its brood of little grubs
in these against the rigour of winter. Others & flutter
about with a loud murmur or a shrill noise, and others c
giving out a buzz bore numerous holes in hearths and
walls in the night. Glow worms shine like fires at
night time owing to the colour of their sides and loins,
now giving a flash of light by opening their wings and
now darkened by closing them ; they are not much
seen before the crops are ripe or after they have been
cut. The cockroaches' life on the contrary is a
nurseling of the shadows, and they fly the light, being
mostly produced in the damp warmth of bath-
houses. The reddish and very large beetles of the
same kind dig dry earth and mould combs that
resemble a small porous sponge and contain poisoned
honey. There is a small place near Olynthus in
Thrace that is fatal to this animal, and is conse-
quently called Beetle-bane. The wings of all Varieties $
insects have no cleft. None has a tail except
the scorpion. This is the only insect that has arms,
and also a spike in the tail ; some of the rest have a
sting, for instance the gad-fly (or if you like, * breeze *),
and also the gnat and some flies, but with all of these

e The wood- worm and the death-watch beetle.

493

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

autem his in ore et pro lingua, sunt hi aculei quibus-
dam hebetes, neque ad punctum sed ad suctum, ut
muscarum generi, in quo lingua evidens fistula est;
nee sunt talibus dentes. aliis cornicula ante oculos
praetenduntur ignava, ut papilionibus. quaedam
insecta carent pinnis, ut scolopendra.

101 XXXV. Insectorum pedes quibus sunt in obliquum
moventur. quorundam extremi longiores foris cur-
vantur, ut locustis.

Hae pariunt, in terram demisso spinae caule, ova
condensa autumni tempore. ea durant hieme, e
terra subsequent! anno exitu veris emittunt parvas,
nigrantes et sine cruribus, pinnisque reptantes.
itaque vernis l aquis intereunt ova, sicco vere maior

102 proventus. alii duplicem earum fetum, geminum 2
exitium tradunt — vergiliarum exortu parere, deinde
ad canis ortum obire et alias renasci ; quidam arcturi
occasu renasci. mori matres cum pepererint certum
est, venniculo statim circa fauces innascente qui eas
strangulat. eodem tempore mares obeunt. et 3 tarn
frivola ratione morientes serpentem cum libuit
necant singulae, faucibus eius adprehensis mordicus.

103 non nascuntur nisi rimosis locis. in India ternum
pedum longitudinis esse traduntur, cruribus et
feminibus serrarum usum praebere cum inaruerint.
est et alius earum obitus : gregatim sublatae vento

1 An hibernis ? (Ar. jueroTrcoptvoiv) Mayhoff.

2 -Hardouin : geminumque.

3 Mayhoff: obeunte.

494

BOOK XI. xxxiv. loo-xxxv. 103

it is in the mouth and serves as a tongue. With
some these stings are blunt, and do not serve for
pricking but for suction — for instance with a sort of
fly, in which the tongue is evidently a tube ; and this
sort of insect have no teeth. Others, for instance
butterflies, have useless little horns projecting in
front of their eyes. Some insects, for instance the
centipede, have no wings.

XXXV. Insects that have feet can move sideways. The locust.
Of some, for instance locusts, the hind feet are longer
and curve outward.

Locusts in the autumn season give birth to clusters
of eggs, by lowering the tube of the prickle to the
earth. The eggs last for the winter, but in the ensuing
year at the end of spring send out small insects, that
are blackish and have no legs, and crawl with their
wing-feathers. Consequently spring rains kill the
eggs, whereas in a dry spring there are larger broods.
Others record that they have two breeding seasons
and two seasons when they die off— bearing at the
rise of the Pleiads and then dying at the rise of the
Dogstar, others being born in their place ; some say
that this second brood is born at the setting of
Arcturus. It is certain that the mothers die when
they have given birth to a brood, a maggot
immediately forming inside them in the region of
the throat that chokes them. The males die at the
same time. And although dying for such a trifling
reason a single locust when it likes can kill a snake
by gripping its throat with its teeth. They are born
only in places with chinks in them. There are said
to be locusts in India three feet long, with legs
and thighs that when they have been dried can be
used as saws. They also have another way of dying :

495

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in maria aut stagna decidunt. forte hoc casuque
evenit, non, ut prisci existimavere, madefactis
nocturno umore alls, idem quippe nee volare eas
noctibus propter frigora tradiderunt, ignari etiam
longinqua maria ab iis transiri, continuata plurium
dierum — quod maxime miremur — fame quoque,

104 quam propter externa pabula petere sciunt. deorum
irae pestis ea intellegitur ; namque et grandiores
cernuntur et tanto volant pinnarum stridore ut alites
credantur, solemque obumbrant, sollicitis suspectan-
tibus populis ne suas operiant terras, sufficiunt
quippe vires et, tamquam parum sit maria transisse,
inmensos tractus permeant diraque messibus nube
contegunt, multa contactu adurentes, omnia vero
morsu erodentes et fores quoque tectorum.

105 Italiam ex Africa maxime coortae infestant, saepe
j>opulo Romana ad Sibyllina coacto remedia confugere
inopiae metu. in Cyrenaica regione lex etiam est
ter anno debellandi eas, primo ova obterendo, dein
fetum, postremo adultas, desertoris poena in eum

106 qui cessaverit. et in Lemno insula certa mensura
praefinita est quam singuli enecatarum ad magis-
tratus referant. graculos quoque ob id colunt ad-
496

BOOK XL xxxv. 103-106

they are carried away in swarms by the wind and fall
into the sea or a marsh. This happens purely by
accident and not, as was believed by ancient writers,
owing to their wings being drenched by the damp-
ness of night. The same people indeed have also
stated that they do not fly by night because of the
cold — not being aware that they cross even wide
seas, actually, which is most surprising, enduring
several days' continuous hunger, to remedy which
they know how to seek fodder abroad. This plague
is interpreted as a sign of the wrath of the gods ; for
they are seen of exceptional size, and also they fly
with such a noise of wings that they are believed to
be birds, and they obscure the sun, making the
nations gaze upward in anxiety lest they should
settle all over their lands. In fact their strength does
not fail, and as though it were not enough to have
crossed the seas, they pass over immense tracts of
land and cover them with a cloud disastrous for the
crops, scorching up many things with their touch
and gnawing away everything with their bite, even
the doors of the houses as well.

Italy is infested by swarms of them, coming Legislation
principally from Africa, the Roman nation having j*d(w
often been compelled by fear of dearth to resort
to remedies prescribed by the Sibylline Books. In
the district of Gyrene there is actually a law to make
war upon them three times a year, the first time by
crushing the eggs, then the grubs and last the fully
grown insects, with the penalty of a deserter for the
man who shirks. Also in the Island of Lemnos there
is a rule prescribing a definite quantity of locusts
killed that each man has to bring in to the
magistrates. Also they keep jays for this purpose,

497

VOL. III. K K

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

verso volatu occurrentes earum exitio. necare et
in Syria militari imperio coguntur. tot orbis partibus
vagatur id malum ; Parthis et hae in cibo gratae.

107 Vox earum proficisci ab occipitio videtur ; eo loco
in commissura scapularum habere quasi dentes
existimantur eosque inter se terendo stridorem edere,
circa duo maxime aequinoctia, sicut cicadae circa
solstitium. coitus locustarum qui et insectorum
omnium quae coeunt, marem portante femina, in
eum1 ultumo caudae reflexo tardoque digressu.
minores autem in omni hoc genere feminis mares.

108 XXXVI. Plurima insectorum vermiculum gig-
nunt; nam et formicae similem ovis vere,2 et hae
communicantes laborem ut apes, sed illae faciunt
cibos, hae condunt. ac si quis conparet onera
corporibus earum, fateatur nullis portione vires esse
maiores. gerunt ea morsu ; maiora avers ae postremis
pedibus moliuntur umeris obnixae. et his reipub-

109 licae ratio, memoria, cura. semina adrosa con-
dunt ne rursus in frugem exeant e terra, maiora
ad introitum dividunt, madefacta imbre proferunt
atque siccant. operantur et noctu plena luna,

eum feminarum.
2 Lacunam fortasse vere, <mirabiles opere) et Mayhoff*

0 A probable suggestion inserts words giving * These too
are remarkable workers, sharing — .'

498

BOOK XL xxxv. ro6-xxxvi. 109

which meet them by flying in the opposite direction,
to their destruction. In Syria as well people are
commandeered by military order to kill them. In
so many parts of the world is this plague abroad;
but with the Parthians even the locust is an
acceptable article of diet.

The locust's voice appears to come from the back Physiology
of the head : it is believed that in that place at the $£%.
juncture of the shoulder-blades they have a sort of
teeth, and that they produce a grating noise by
rubbing them together, chiefly about the two
equinoxes, as grasshoppers do about midsummer.
Locusts couple in the same manner as all insects
that pair, the female carrying the male with the end
of her tail bent back to him, and with slow separation.
In all this class the males are smaller than the
females.

XXXVI. Most of the insects give birth to a The ant.
maggot ; ants for example produce in spring one that
resembles an egg, these too sharing0 their labour
as cTo bees, but bees make the food stuffs, whereas
ants collect theirs. And if anybody compared the
loads that ants carry with the size of their bodies,
he would confess that no creatures have
proportionally greater strength; they carry them
held in their mouths, but they move larger loads
with their hind feet, turning their backs to them
and heaving against them with their shoulders.
Ants also have a system of government, and possess
memory and diligence. They nibble their seeds
before they store them away, so that they may not
sprout up again out of the earth and germinate;
they divide the krger seeds so as to get them in ;
when they have been wetted by rain they bring them

499

KK 2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

eaedem interlunio cessant. iam in opere qui labor,
quae sedulitas ! et qtioniam ex diverse convehunt
altera alterius ignarae l certi dies 2 ad recognitionem

110 mutuam mindinis dantur. quae tune earum con-
cursatio, quam diligens cum obviis quaedam con-
locutio atque percontatio ! silices itinere earum
adtritos videmus et opere semitam factam, ne quis
dubitet et qualibet in re quid possit quantulacumque
adsiduitas ! sepeliunt inter se viventium solae praeter
hominem. — non sunt in Sicilia pinnatae.

111 Indicae formicae cornua Erythris in aede Herculis
fixa miraculo fuere. aurum hae cavernis egerunt
cum 3 terra, in regione septentrionalium Indorum qui
Dardae vocantur. ipsis color felium, magnitudo
Aegypti luporum. erutum hoc ab iis tempore
hiberno Indi furantur aestivo fervor e, conditis
propter vaporem in cuniculos formicis, quae tamen
odore sollicitatae provolant crebroque lacerant quam-
vis praevelocibus camelis fagientes : tanta pernicitas
feritasque est cum amore auri.

112 XXXVII. Multa autem insecta et aliter nascuntur,
atque in primis e rore. insidet hie raphani folio
primo vere et spissatus sole in magnitudinem milii
cogitur. inde porrigitur vermiculus parvus et triduo

1 v.L ignara. 2 indices Detlefsen.

3 cum add, ? Mayhoff (terrae alii).

a It has been suggested that these relics were in reality the
pick-axes of Tibetan gold-miners, and the gold-carrying ants
their dogs.

500

BOOK XL xxxvi. 109-xxxYii. 112

out and dry them. They even work at night when
there is a full moon, although when there is no
moon they stop. Again what industry and what
diligence is displayed in their work ! and since they
bring their burdens together from opposite directions,
and are unknown to one another, certain days are
assigned for market so that they may become
acquainted. How they flock together on these
occasions ! How busily they converse, so to speak,
with those they meet and press them with questions 1
We see rocks worn by their passage and a path made
by their labours, so that nobody may doubt how
much can be accomplished in any matter by even
a trifling amount of assiduity! They are the only
living creatures beside man that bury their dead. —
Winged ants do not occur in Sicily.

The horns a of an Indian ant fixed up in the Temple
of Hercules were one of the sights of Erythrae.
These ants carry gold out of caves in the earth in the
region of the Northern Indians called the Dardae.
The creatures are of the colour of cats and the size
of Egyptian wolves. The gold that they dig up in
winter time the Indians steal in the hot weather of
summer, when the heat makes the ants hide in
burrows; but nevertheless they are attracted by
their scent and fly out and sting them repeatedly
although retreating on very fast camels : such speed
and such ferocity do these creatures combine with
their love of gold.

XXXVII. Many insects however are born
other ways as well, and in the first place from
At the beginning of spring this lodges on the leaf of
a radish and is condensed by the sun and shrinks
to the size of a millet seed. Out of this a small

501

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mox uruca, quae adiectis diebus adcrescit ; fit x im-
mobilis, duro cortice, ad tactum tantum movetur,
araneo accreta, quam chrysallidem appellant, rupto
deinde eo cortice evolat 2 papilio.

113 XXXVIII. Sic quaedam ex imbre generantur in
terra, quaedam et in ligno. nee enim cossi tantum
in eo, sed etiam tabani ex eo nascuntur et alia 3
ubicumque umor est nimius, (XXXIX) sicut intra homi-
nem taeniae tricenum pedum, aliquando et plurium,

114 longitudine. iam in carne exanima et viventium
quoque hominum capillo, qua foeditate et Sulla
dictator et Alcman ex clarissimis Graeciae poetis
obiere. hoc quidem et aves infestat, phasianas

115 vero interemit nisi pulverantes sese ; pilos habentium
asinum tantum inmunem hoc malo credunt et oves.
gignuntur autem et vestis genere praecipue, lanicio
interemptarum a lupis ovium. aquas quoque quas-
dam quibus lavemur fertiliores eius generis invenio
apud auctores, quippe cum etiam cerae id gignant
quod animalium minimum existimatur. alia rursus
generantur sordibus a radio solis, posteriorum lascivia
crurum petauristae, alia pulvere umido in cavernis
volucria.

116 XL. Est animal eiusdem temporis infixo semper
sanguini capite vivens atque ita intumescens, unum

1 fit auctore Warmington add. RacJckam.

2 Raclcham : volat.

3 v.l. alibi : alias edd.

a Our cabbage-white * The larvae of flies.

c The clothes-moth. * The ' leaper *.

502

BOOK XL xxxvn. II2-XL. 116

maggot developes, and three days later it becomes
a caterpillar, which as days are added grows larger ;
it becomes motionless, with a hard skin, and only moves
when touched, being covered with a cobweb growth —
at this stage it is called a chrysalis. Then it bursts
its covering and flies out as a butterfly.^
XXXVIII. In this way some creatures are other mod*

-, » ..111 • ofgeneratt

generated from ram in the earth and some even in Of insects.
wood. For not only is the goatmoth caterpillar born
in wood, but also the horse-fly springs from wood, and
other creatures, wherever there is excessive damp,
(XXXIX) just as tape-worms thirty feet in length,
sometimes even more, grow inside a human being.
Again worms 6 are born in the flesh of dead bodies
and also in the hair of living people, a foul growth that
caused the death of the dictator Sulla and also of one
of the most famous of Greece poets, Alcman. This
indeed also infests birds, and actually kills pheasants
unless they sprinkle themselves with dust; and of
hairy animals it is believed that only the ass and sheep
are immune from this evil. They c also breed in one
kind of clothing especially, woollen made from sheep
that have been killed by wolves. Also I find in the
authorities that some springs of water in which
we bathe are specially productive of this kind
of creature; inasmuch as even wax generates
what is believed to be the smallest of animals.
Others^ again are generated out of dirt by the rays
of the sun, creatures that hop with a frisk of their
hind legs, and others out of damp dust, that fly
about in caves.

XL. There is an animal belonging to the same JBkod-
season that always lives with its head fixed in the maggots.
blood of a host, and consequently goes on swelling,

5°3

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

animalium cui cibi non sit exitus : dehiscit cum
nimia satietate, alimento ipso moriens. numquam
hoc in iumentis gignitur, in bubus frequens, in canibus
aliquando, in quibus omnia, in ovibus et in capris
hoc solum. aeque mira sanguinis et hirudinum in
palustri aqua sitis ; namque et hae toto capite con-
duntur. est volucre canibus peculiare suum malum,
aures maxime lancinans, quae defendi morsu non
queunt.

117 XLL Idem pulvis in lanis et veste tineas creat,
praecipue si araneus una includatur ; sitiens 1 enim
et omnem umorem absorbens ariditatem ampliat.
hoc et in chartis noscitur.2 est earum genus tunicas
suas trahentium quo cocleae modo ; sed harum pedes
cernuntur. spoliatae exspirant ; si adcrevere, faciunt

J.18 chrysallidem. ficarios culices caprificus generat,
cantharidas vermiculi ficorum et piri et peuces et
cynacanthae et rosae. venenum hoc remedia secum
habet: alae medentur, quibus demptis letale est.
rursus alia genera culicum acescens natura gignit,
quippe cum et in nive candidi inveniantur et vetus-
tiore vermiculij in media quidem altitudine rutili,3 —
nam et ipsa nix vetustate rufescit, — hirti pilis, gran-
diores torpentesque.

119 XLII. Gignit aliqua et contrarium naturae elemen-
tum. siquidem in Cypri aerariis fornacibus et medio

1 MayJioff ': sititur.

2 nascitur ? Mayhoff.

3 in nive inveniantur vetustiore vermiculi rutili — nam et
ipsa nix vetustate rufescit — hirti pilis, in Media quidem
candidi MayJioff.

J The dog-tick.
504

BOOK XL XL. ii6-xLii. 119

as it is the only animal that has no vent for its food :
with gorging to excess it bursts, so dying of its very
nutriment. This creature never grows in cart-
horses but occurs frequently in oxen and occasionally
in dogs,& in which all creatures breed, whereas this
alone occurs in sheep and goats. Equally remarkable
is the thirst for blood that is even felt by leeches in
marshy water ; for they too penetrate with the whole
of their head. Dogs have a special pest of their
own, a maggot that lances particularly their ears,
which they cannot protect by their bite.

XLI. Similarly, dust in woollens and in clothes Clothes-
breeds moths, especially if a spider is shut up with ™°el
them; for being thirsty and sucking up all the
moisture it increases the dryness. This is also
noticed in papers. There is a kind of moths that
carry their own coats in the same way as snails;
but the moths have visible feet. If stripped of their
coats they die, but if they grow up, they form a
chrysalis. The wild fig-tree breeds fig-gnats ;
beetles are produced by the maggots of figs and of
the pear tree, pine, dog-rose and rose. This
poisonous creature brings its remedies with it —
the wings have a healing power; but with these
removed it is deadly. Again, other kinds, namely
gnats, are bred by a substance growing sour, and in
tact white ones are found even in snow, and also in
snow that has been lying for some time maggots,
which in a moderate depth of snow at all events are
ruddy — for even snow itself turns reddish with lapse
of time ; these have shaggy hair and are of consider-
able size, and torpid.

XLI I. Some creatures are generated also by Fire-flies.
the opposite natural element. Thus in the copper

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

igni maioris muscae magnitudinis volat pinnatum
quadrupes ; appellatur pyrallis, a quibusdum pyroto-
con.1 quamdlu est in igne vivit, cum evasit longiore
paulo volatu emoritur.

120 XLIII. Hypanis fluvius in Ponto circa solstitium
defert acinorum effigie tenues membranas quibus
erumpit volucre quadrupes supra dicti modo, nee
ultra unum diem vivit, unde hemerobion vocatur.
reliquis talium ab initio ad fmem septenarii sunt
numeri, culici et vermiculis ter septeni, corpus parien-
tibus quater septeni. mutationes et in alias figuras
transitus trinis aut quadrinis diebus. cetera ex his
pinnata autumno fere moriuntur tabe alarum,2
tabani quidem etiam caecitate. muscis umore
exanimatis, si cinere condantur, redit vita.

121 XLIV. Nunc per singulas corporum partes praeter
iam dicta membratim tractetur historia.

Caput habent cuncta quae sanguinem. in capite
paucis animalium nee nisi volucribus apices, diversi
quidem generis, phoenici plumarum serie e medio
eo exeunte alio, pavonibus crinitis arbusculis, stym-
phalidi cirro, phasianae corniculis, praeterea parvae
avi quae, ab illo galerita appellata quondam, postea

1 Mayhoff: pyroto (pyrota Jan).

2 tabe alarum add. ex Aristotele Mayhoff.

a< A species of May-fly.

6 * Of decay of the wings * is added by Mayhoff from
Aristotle.

c A mythical species.

506

BOOK XL XLII. H9-XMV. 121

foundries of Cyprus even in the middle of the fire
there flies a creature with wings and four legs, of
the size of a rather large fly ; it is called the pyrallis,
or by some the pyrotocon. As long as it is in the fire
it lives, but when it leaves it on a rather long flight
it dies off.

XLIII. The river Bug on the Black Sea at $
midsummer brings down some thin membranes that insects.
look like berries out of which burst a four-legged
caterpillar in the manner of the creature mentioned
above, but it does not live beyond one day, owing
to which it is called the hemerobius,a The rest of
this sort of creatures have from start to finish seven-
day periods, but the gnat and maggots have twenty-
one-day, and those whose offspring are fully formed
twenty-eight-day periods. Their changes and trans-
formations into other shapes take place every three
or every four days. The remaining kinds of this
class possessing wings usually die in autumn of decay
of the wings,6 but horse-flies die of blindness also.
When flies have been killed by damp they can be
resuscitated by being buried in ashes.

XLIV. Now let our investigation treat of the

/» i -i . i • i . r i j structure

various parts of bodies besides the ones already taking the
mentioned, taking limb by limb. %% ofthe

All creatures that have blood have a head. On seriatim .•
the head a few kinds, and these only birds, have &
crests, of different sorts it is true — with the phoenix
it is a row of feathers spreading out from the middle
of the head in a different direction, peacocks have
bushy tufts, the bird of Stymphalusc a crest, the
pheasant little horns, as moreover has the small
bird that was formerly named from this peculiarity
the crested lark and subsequently was called by the

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Gallico vocabulo etiam legioni nomendederatalaudae.

122 diximus et cui plicatilem cristam dedisset natura.
per medium caput a rostro residentem et fulicarum
generi dedit, cirros pico quoque Martio et grui
Balearicae, sed spectatissimum insigne gallinaceis,
corporeum, serratum ; nee carnem id 1 esse nee
cartilaginem nee callum iure dixerimus, verum
peculiare datum: draconum enim cristas qui
viderit non reperitur.

123 XLV. Cornua multis quidem et aquatilium et
marinorum et serpentium variis data sunt modis,
sed quae iure cornua intellegantur quadripedum
tantum generi ; Actaeonem enim, et Cipum etiam
in Latia historia, fabulosos reor. nee alibi maior
naturae lascivia ; lusit animalium armis : sparsit
haec in ramos, ut cervorum, aliis simplicia tribuit,
ut in eodem genere subulonibus ex argumento
dictis, aliorum fudit in palmas digitosque emisit

124 ex his, unde platycerotas vocant. dedit ramosa
capreis sed parva, nee fecit decidua; convoluta in
anfractum arietum generi, ceu caestus daret;
infesta tauris — in hoc quidem genere et feminis
tribuit, in multis tantum maribus; rupicapris in
dorsum adunca, dammis in adversum ; erecta autem

1 edd. : ita.

0 Raised by Caesar in Gaul, at his own expense. Pre-
sumably a crested lark was the crest on its helmets.

* See X. 68.

c The black woodpecker.

d Actaeon was torn to pieces by Ms hounds after having
seen Diana bathing. Cipus was a fabled Roman praetor
who suddenly grew horns : Ovid. Met, 15. 565.

• Fallow deer,

508

BOOK XI. XLIV. I2I-XLV. 124

Gallic word alauda and gave that name also to the
legion0 so entitled. We have also said6 which
bird has been endowed by nature with a folding
crest. Nature has also bestowed a crest that slopes
backwards from the beak down the middle of the
neck on the coot species, and also a tufted crest on
Mars's woodpecker c and on the Balearic crane, but
she has given the most distinguished decoration to
the poultry-cock — its fleshy, notched comb ; and this
cannot rightly be described as flesh or gristle or hard
skin, but is a gift peculiar to it : for no one can be
found who has ever seen serpents' crests.

XLV. Many of the water and marine and snake Boms.
species are furnished in various ways with horns of a
sort, but horns in the proper sense of the term only
belong to the genus quadrupeds; for I deem the
story of Actaeon,6 d and also that of Cipus a in the
history of Latium, to be fabulous. And in no other
field does nature allow herself more sport ; with the
weapons of animals she has made a game — dividing
some into branches, for instance, the horns of stags ;
assigning simple horns to others, for instance, the
species in the same genus called from this feature
' flute-stags/ e spreading those of others into palms
and making fingers shoot out from these, the origin
of the designation ' broad-horn/ To goats she has
given branching but small horns, and these she has
not made to be shed ; to the ram class horns twisted
into a crooked shape, as if providing them with
weighted gauntlets for boxing; to bulls horns for
attacking — in this class indeed she has also bestowed
horns on the females, although in many she only
gives them to the males; to chamois horns curved
over the back, to antelopes horns curved the opposite

509

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

rugarumque ambitu contorta et in leve fastigium
exacuta, ut lyras decerent, strepsiceroti, quern
addacem Africa appellat; mobilia eadem3 ut aures,

125 Phrygiae armentis ; Trogodytarum in terram derecta,
qua de causa obliqua cervice pascuntur ; aliis singula,
et haec medio capite aut naribus, ut diximus; iam
quidem aliis ad incursum robusta, aliis ad ictum,
aliis adunca, aliis redunca, aliis ad iactum pluribus
modis supina, convexa, conversa; omnia in mucro-
nem migrantia; in quodam genere pro manibus ad
scabendum corpus; cocleis ad praetemptandum
iter — corporea haec, sicut cerastis ; his 1 aliquando
singula, cocleis semper bina, et ut protendantur ac
resiliant.

126 Urorum cornibus barbari septentrionales potant,
vinisque 2 bina capitis unius cornua inplent ; alii
praefixa hastilia cuspidant, apud nos in lamnas
secta tralucent atque etiam lumen inclusum latius
fundunt, multasque alias ad delicias conferuntur,
nunc tincta, nunc sublita, nunc quae cestrota a3

127 picturae genere dicuntur. omnibus autem cava et
in mucrone demum concreta sunt, cervis tantum tota
solida et omnibus annis decidua. bourn adtritis
unguHs cornua unguendo arvina medentur agricolae,
adeoque sequax natura est ut in ipsis viventium cor-

1 his add. Mueller. 2 RacTcham : Tirnisque.
3 a add. Hardouin.

a This name is still in use.

b Herodotus (4. 192) says that the horns of the Libyan
opvg, a kind of antelope, are used for the mfoeis1, horns, or
sides, of a lyre.

510

BOOK XL XLV. 124-127

way; but to the crook-horn, the African name for
which is addax,a upright horns twisted with a coil of
wrinkles and sharpened at the end into a smooth
point, so as to make them suitable for lyres & ; also
horns that are movable, like ears, to the cattle of
Phrygia; horns pointing towards the ground to
those belonging to the Cave-dwellers, which conse-
quently graze with the neck bent sideways ; to other
creatures a single horn, and this placed in the middle
of the head or between the nostrils, as we have said :
moreover some have strong horns for charging,
others for striking; some horns curved forward,
some backward, some for tossing in various ways —
curving backward, curving together, curving out-
ward ; all ending in a point ; in one kind horns used
instead of hands for scratching the body ; with snails
used for exploring the way in advance — these
fleshy, as those of the horned snake ; these creatures
sometimes have one horn, snails always two, so as
both to be stretched forward and to spring back.

The northern barbarians use the horns of the uses o
aurochs for drinking, and fill the two horns of a single horn'
head with wine ; others point their spears with horn
tips. With us horn is cut into transparent plates to
give a wider diffusion to a light enclosed in it, and
it is also applied to many other articles of luxury,
sometimes dyed, sometimes painted, sometimes
what is called from a certain kind of picture ' en-
graved/ All animals' horns are hollow and solid
solely at the tip, but only stags have horns that are
entirely solid and that are shed every year. Farmers
heal the hooves of their oxen when worn by greasing
the horn of the hoof with fat ; and the substance of
horn is so ductile that even the horns of living cattle

5"

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

poribus fervent! cera flectantur, atque incisa nascen-
tium in diversas partes torqueantur, ut singulis
capitibus quaterna fiant.

128 Tenuiora feminis plerumque sunt, ut in pecore
multisjovium nulla,nec cervorum, nee quibus multifidi
pedes, nee solidipedum ulli excepto asino Indico
qui uno armatus est cornu. bisulcis bina natura1
tribuitj at 2 nulli superne primores habenti dentes :
qui putant eos in cornua absumi facile coarguuntur
cervarum natura, quae nee dentes habent quos3 neque
mares, nee tamen cornua, ceterorum ossibus adhaer-
ent, cervorum tantum cutibus enascuntur.

129 XLVI. Capita piscibus portione corporum maxima,
fortassis ut mergantur. ostrearum generi nulla nee
spongiis nee aliis fere quibus solus ex sensibus tactus
est. quibusdam indiscretum caput, ut cancris.

130 XLVII. In capite animalium cunctorum homini
plurimus pilus, iam quidem promiscue maribus ac
feminis , apud intonsas utique gentes ; atque etiam
nomina ex eo Capillatis Alpium incolis, Galliae
Comatae, ut tamen sit aliqua in hoc terrarum differen-
tia : quippe Myconii carentes eo gignuntur, sicut in
Cauno lienosi (et quaedam animalium naturaliter

1 natura add. Broterius,

2 at add. ? Mayhqff.

3 MacJcham auctore ( ?) Warmington : habent ut.
512

BOOK XL XLV. i2y-xLvn. 130

can be bent with boiling wax, and they can be slit
at birth and twisted in opposite directions, so as to
produce four horns on one head.

The females usually have thinner horns, as is the
case with many in the cattle class, but the females structure of,
of sheep and of stags have none, nor have those of the h°Tm-
animals with cloven hooves, nor any of those with
solid hooves except the Indian ass that is armed with
a single horn. Nature has bestowed two horns on the
kinds with cloven hooves, but on no kind having
front teeth in the upper jaw: but those who think
that the material to form upper teeth is entirely
used up in horns are easily refuted by the nature of
does, which have no teeth that stags have not also
and nevertheless have no horns. The horns of all
other kinds are attached to the bones, but those of
stags alone grow out of the hide.

XLVI. The heads of fishes are very large in pro- Heads of
portion to their bodies, perhaps so as to enable them fishe3'
to dive. The shell-fish kind have no heads, nor have
sponges nor virtually any of the other creatures
which only possess the sense of touch. Some kinds,
for instance crabs, have the head not separated from
the body.

XLVII. Of all the animals man has most hair^jyv

11-1 lit i -i... i baldness

on the head : indeed this is the case indiscriminately in man.
with males and females, at all events with the races
that do not cut the hair ; and the Longhair tribes of
the Alps and Gallia Comata have actually derived
their names from this, though nevertheless there is
in this respect some difference between countries : in
fact the people of Mykoni are born devoid of hair,
like the persons with an affection of the spleen at
Caunus. (Also some kinds of animals are bald by

5*3

VOL. III. L L

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

calvent, sicut struthiocameli et corvi aquatic! , quibus

131 apud Graecos nomen inde). defluvium eorum in
muliere rarum, in spadonibus non visum, nee in ullo
ante veneris usum, nee infra cerebrum aut infra
verticem aut circa tempora atque aures. calvitium
uni tantum animalium homini praeterquam innatum ;
canities homini tantum et equo, sed homini semper
a priore parte capitis, turn deinde ab aversa.

132 XLVIII. Vertices bini hominum tantum aliquis.
capitis ossa plana, tenuia, sine medullis, serratis
pectinatim structa conpagibus. perfracta non que-
unt solidari, sed excepta modice non sunt letalia in
vicem eorum succedente corporea cicatrice, infirmis-
sima esse ursis, durissima psittacis, suo diximus loco.

133 XLIX. Cerebrum omnia habent animalia quae
sanguinem, etiam in mari quae mollia appellavimus
quamvis careant sanguine, ut polypus, sed homo
portione maximum et umidissimum omniumque vis-
cerum frigidissimum, duabus supra subterque mem-
branis velatum, quarum alterutram rumpi mortiferum

134 est. cetero viri quam feminae maius. omnibus
hominibus x hoc sine sanguine, sine venis, et aliquis 2
sine pingui. aliud esse quam medullam eruditi

1 Ractiham : omnibus aut hominibua.

2 Mueller ? (vel ex Aristoteh sebosis) : reliquis.

a <j>aXaKpoK6paK€S, c . X. 133. 6 VIII. 130, X. 117.

c IX. 83. * I.e. the octopus.

514

BOOK XL XLVII, I3O-XLIX. 134

nature, for instance ostriches and cormorants;
the Greek name a for the latter is derived from this
peculiarity.) With these races loss of the hair is
rare in the case of a woman and unknown in eunuchs,
and never occurs in any case before sexual inter-
course has taken place; and they are never bald
below the brainpan or the crown of the head, or round
the temples and the ears. Man is the only species in
which baldness occurs, except in cases of animals
born without hair, and only with human beings and
horses does the hair turn grey, in the former case
always starting at the forehead and only afterwards
at the back of the head,

XLVIII. In human beings only a double-crowned The skull,
skull occurs in some cases. The bones of the human
skull are flat and thin and have no marrow ; they are
constructed with inter lockings serrated like the
teeth of a comb. When broken they cannot form
again, but the removal of a moderate piece is not
fatal, as its place is taken by a scar of flesh. The
skull of the bear is the weakest and that of the
parrot the hardest, as we have stated in the proper
placed

XLIX. All blooded animals have a brain, and so The brain .•
also have the sea-creatures that we have designated c *** functions.
the soft species, although they are bloodless, for
instance the polypus.^ Man however has the largest
brain in proportion to his size and the most moist
one, and it is the coldest of all his organs; it is
wrapped in two membranes above and below, the
fracture of either of which is fatal. For the rest a
man's brain is larger than a woman's. With all human
beings it has no blood or veins, and in some cases no
fat. The learned teach that it is distinct from marrow

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

decent quoniam coquendo durescat. omnium cerebro
medio insunt ossicula parva. uni homini in infantia
palpitant, nee conroborantur ante primum sermonis

135 exordium, hoc est viscerum excelsissimum custodi-
tumque •*• caelo 2 capitis, sine carne, sine cruore, sine
sordibus. hanc habet sensus arcem, hue venarum
omnis a corde vis tendit, hie desinit, hoc culmen
altissimum, hie mentis est regimen, omnium3
autem animalium in priora pronum, quia et sensus
ante nos tendunt. ab eo proficiscitur somnus, hinc
capitis nutatio; quae cerebrum non habent non
dormiunt.

Cervis in capite inesse vermiculi sub linguae
inanitate et circa articulum qua caput iungitur numero
xx produntur.

136 L. Aures homini tantum immobiles (ab his Flac-
corum cognomina). nee in alia parte feminis maius
inpendium margaritis dependentibus ; in Oriente
quidem et viris aurum eo locf gestare decus existi-
matur. animalium aliis maiores aliis minores;
cervis tantum scissae ac velut divisae, sorici pilosae ;
sed aliquae omnibus animal dumtaxat generantibus
excepto vitulo marino atque delphino et quae carti-

137 laginea appellavimus et viperis: haec cavernas tan-
tum habent aurium loco praeter cartilaginea et
delphinum, quem tamen audire manifestum est:
nam et cantu muleentur, et capiuntur attoniti 4 sono.

1 sic ? vel protectumque Mueller (proxmmmque alii) :
excelsissimumque.

2 an cavo ut IX. 163 ? Mayhoff. s edd. : omnibus.
4 attenti ? Ractiham.

a Larvae of the gad-fly. * IX". 78.

e Perhaps the text should be altered to give * while intent
on,' c absorbed by ' : cf. Shakespeare, ' I am never merry when
I hear sweet music.' — * The reason is, your spirits are attentive.'
516

BOOK XI. XLIX. I34-L. 137

because boiling makes it hard. In the middle of the
brain of all species there are tiny little bones. With
man alone the brain throbs in infancy, and does not
become firm before the child first begins to talk.
The brain is the highest of the organs in position,
and it is protected by the vault of the head ; it has no
flesh or blood or refuse. It is the citadel of sense-
perception, and the focus to which all the flow of the
veins converges from the heart and at which it stops ;
it is the crowning pinnacle, the seat of government
of the mind. But the brain of all animals slopes
forward, because our senses also stretch in front of us.
It is the source of sleep and the cause of drowsy
nodding ; species without a brain do not sleep.

Stags are stated to have maggots a to the number
of twenty in the head beneath the hollow of the
tongue and in the neighbourhood of the juncture of
the head with the neck.

L. Only man is unable to move the ears. (The The ear.
family surname Flabby comes from them.) Also
women spend more money on their ears, in pearl
earrings, than on. any other part of their person;
in the East indeed it is considered becoming even for
men to wear gold in that place. Some animals have
larger and others smaller ears ; only stags have cleft
and as it were divided ears; the shrew-mouse has
shaggy ears ; but all species, at all events viviparous
ones, have some ears, except the seal and dolphin,
and those which we have designated 6 cartilaginous,
and vipers : these have only holes in place of ears,
except the cartilaginous species and the dolphin,
although the latter is obviously able to hear; for
dolphins are charmed even by music, and are caught
while bewildered by c the sound. Their precise

5*7

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quanam audiant mirum. idem nee olfactus vestigia
habent, cum olfaciant sagacissime. pinnatorum
animalium buboni tantum et oto plumae velut auris,
ceteris cavernae ad auditum; simili modo squami-
geris atque serpentibus. in equis et omni 1 iumen-
torum genere indicia animi praeferunt, marcidae
fessis, micantes pavidis, subrectae furentibus, reso-
lutae aegris.

138 LI. Facies homini tantum, ceteris os aut rostra,
frons et aliis, sed homini tantum tristitiae, hilaritatis,
clementiae, severitatis index, in assensu eius super-
cilia homini et pariter et alterna mobilia, et in his pars
animi : his 2 negamus, annuimus, haec maxime
indicant fastum; superbia aliubi conceptaculum
sed hie sedem habet: in corde nascitur, hue subit,
hie pendet — nihil altius simul abruptiusque invenit in
corpore ubi solitaria esset.

139 LII. Subiacent oculi, pars corporis pretiosissima
et quae lucis usu vitam distinguat a morte. non
omnibus animalium hi : ostreis nulli, quibusdam con-
charum dubii; pectines enim, si quis digitos adver-
sum hiantes eos moveat3 contrahuntur ut videntes, et
solenes fugiunt admota ferramenta. quadripedum
talpis visus non est, oculorum effigies inest, si quis

140 praetentam detrahat membranam. et inter aves

1 Mayhoff: omnium.

2 his add. EacJcham (iis Mayhoff).

a Or perhaps tracks along which smell passes, ' smelling-
organs.'

518

BOOK XL L. 137-Lii. 140

method of hearing is a riddle. They also have no
indications of smell,a although they possess a very
keen scent. Of feathered creatures only the eagle-
owl and eared owl have feathers that serve as ears,
the rest have apertures for hearing; and similarly
with the scaly creatures and with snakes. In
horses and every kind of cattle the ears display signs
of their feelings, drooping when they are tired,
twitching when they are frightened, pricked up when
they are angry and relaxed when they are sick.

LI. Only man has a face, all other animals have a The face and
muzzle or beak. Others also have a brow, but only features'
with man is it an indication of sorrow and gaiety,
mercy and severity. The eyebrows in man can be
moved in agreement with ijb, either both together or
alternately, and in them a portion of the mind is
situated : with them we indicate assent and dissent,
they are our chief means of displaying contempt;
pride has its place of generation elsewhere, but here
is its abode: it is born in the heart, but it rises to
the eyebrows and hangs suspended there — having
found no position in the body at once loftier and
steeper where it could be sole occupant.

LIL Beneath the brows lie the eyes, the most ^« eye.
precious part of the body and the one that distinguishes
life from death by the use it makes of daylight.
Not all animals have these organs : oysters have no
eyes, and some of the shellfish doubtful ones, as
scallops, if somebody moves his fingers towards them
when they are open, shut up as though seeing them,
and razor-shells hurry away from iron hooks brought
near them. Of fourfooted creatures moles have no
sight, although they possess the semblance of eyes
if one draws off the covering membrane. And

5*9

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ardeolarum in1 genere quos leucos vocant altero oculo
carere tradunt, optimi auguri cum ad austrum volent
septentrionemve ; solvi enim pericula et metus
narrant. Nigidius nee locustis, cicadis esse dicit.
cocleis oculorum vie em cornicula bina praetemptatu
implent. nee lumbricis ulli sunt vermiumve generi.

141 LIIL Oculi homini tantum diverse color e, ceteris
in suo cuique genere similes, et equorum quibusdam
glauci; sed in homine numerosissimae varietatis
atque differentiae, grandiores, modici, parvi; pro-
minentes quos hebetiores putant, conditi quos claris-
sime cernere, sicuti 2 colore caprinos.

142 LIV. Praeterea alii contuentur longinqua, alii nisi
prope admota non cernunt. multorum visus fulgore
solis constat, nubilo die non ceraentium nee post
occasus; alii interdiu hebetiores, noctu praeter
ceteros cernunt. de geminis pupillis, aut quibus
noxii visus essent, satis diximus.3 caesi in tenebris

143 clariores. ferunt Ti. Caesari, nee alii genitorum
mortalium, fuisse naturam ut4 expergefactus noctu
paulisped haut alio modo quam luce clara
contueretur omnia, paulatim tenebris sese obducenti-
bus. divo Augusto equorum modo glauci fuere,
superque hominem albicantis magnitudinis, quam ob

1 in add. Sittig. z Mayfioff : sicut in.

3 VII. 16. * ut add. edd.

o I.e. egrets. * VII. 16.

520

BOOK XL LH. 140-Liv. 143

among birds the variety of the heron class called in
Greek white herons a are said to lack one eye, and
to be a very good omen when they fly North or
South, as they tell that dangers and alarms are being
dissipated. Nigidius says that also locusts and
cicadas have no eyes. For snails their pair of horns
fill the place of eyes by feeling in front of them.
Earth-worms also and worms in general have no
eyes.

LIII. Man alone has eyes of various colours,
whereas with .all other creatures the eyes of each
member of a species are alike. Some horses too have
grey eyes ; but in man the eyes are of extremely
numerous variety and difference — larger than the
average, medium, small; prominent, which are
thought to be dimmer, or deep-set, which are thought
to see most clearly, as are those with the colour of
goats' eyes.

LIV. Moreover some people have long sight but sight.
others can only see things brought close to them.
The sight of many depends on the brilliance of the
sun, and they cannot see clearly on a cloudy day or
after sunset; others have dimmer sight in the day
time but are exceptionally keen-sighted at night.
We have already said enough b about double pupils, varieties of
or persons who have the evil eye. Blue-grey eyes see ^*
more clearly in the dark. It is stated that Tiberius
Caesar alone of all mankind was so constituted that
if he woke up in the night for a short time he could
see everything just as in bright daylight, although
darkness gradually closed over him. The late
lamented Augustus had grey eyes like those of
horses, the whites being larger than usual in a
human being, on account of which he used to be

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

causam diligentius spectari eos iracunde ferebat;

144 Claudio Caesari ab angulis candore carnoso sanguineis
venis subinde suiFusi ; Gaio principi rigentes ; Neroni,1
nisi cum coniveret ad prope admota, hebetes. xx 2
gladiatorum in Gai principis ludo fuere, in his duo
omrdno qui contra comminationem aliquam non coni-
verent, et ob id invicti : tantae hoc difficultatis est
homini, plerisque vero naturale ut nictari non cessent,

145 quos pavidiores accepimus. oculus unicolor 3 nulli :
communi4 candore omnibus medius colos differ ens.
neque ulla ex parte maiora animi indicia cunctis
animalibuSj sed homini maxime, id est moderationis,
clementiae, misericordiae, odii, amoris, tristitiae,
laetitiae. contuitu quoque multiformes, truces, torvi,
flagrantes, graves, transversi, limi, summissi, blandi :
profecto in oculis animus habitat, ardent, inten-

146 duntur, umectant, conivent ; hinc ilia miseri cordiae
lacrima, hos cum exosculamur animum ipsum videmur
attingere, hinc fletus et rigantis ora rivi. quis ille
est umor in dolore tarn fecundus et paratus ? aut ubi
reliquo tempore? ammo aut em videmus, animo
cermmus ; oculi ceu vasa quaedam visibilem eius
partem accipiunt atque tramittunt. sic magna

1 edd. (Neroni <caesii> at ex Suetonio MayJioff} : Neronia.

2 Urlichs: xx.

3 v.L unicolore (an uno colore ? Maylioff}.

4 Mayhoff: cum.

522

BOOK XL LIV. 143-146

angry if people watched his eyes too closely ; Claudius
Caesar's eyes were frequently bloodshot and had a
fleshy gleam at the corners; the Emperor Gaius
had staring eyes; Nero's eyes were dull of sight
except when he screwed them up to look at objects
brought close to them. In the training-school of
the Emperor Gaius there were 20,000 gladiators,
among whom there were only two that did not
blink when faced by some threat of danger and were
consequently unconquerable: so difficult it is for a
human being to stare steadily, whereas for most
people it is natural to keep on blinking, and these are
traditionally supposed to be more cowardly. No-
body has eyes of only one colour : with everyone the
general surface is white but there is a different
colour in the middle. No other part of the body
supplies greater indications of the mind—this is so
with all animals alike, but specially with man —
that is, indications of self-restraint, mercy, pity,
hatred, love, sorrow, joy. The eyes are also very
varied in their look — fierce, stern, sparkling, sedate,
leering, askance, downcast, kindly: in fact the
eyes are the abode of the mind. They glow,
stare, moisten, wink; from them flows the tear of
compassion, when we kiss them we seem to reach
the mind itself, they are the source of tears and
of the stream that bedews the cheek. What is the
nature of this moisture that at a moment of sorrow
flows so copiously and so promptly ? Or where is it
in the remaining time? In point of fact it is the
mind that is the real instrument of sight and of
observation; the eyes act as a sort of vessel re-
ceiving and transmitting the visible portion of the
consciousness. This explains why deep thought

523

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cogitatio obcaecat abducto intus visu, sic in morbo
14=7 comitiali animo caligante aperti nihil cernunt. quin
et patentibus dormiunt lepores multique hominum,
quos KopvpoLvriav Graeci dicunt.

Tenuibus multisque membranis eos natura com-
posuit, callosis contra frigora calorisque in extumo
tunicis, quas subinde purincat lacrimationum salivis,
118 lubricos propterincursantia et mobiles. LV. media
eorum cornua fenestravit pupilla, cuius angustiae
non sinunt vagari incertam aciem ac velut canali
dirigunt, obiterque incidentia facile declinant,
aliis nigri, aliis ravi, aliis glauci coloris orbibus
circumdatis, ut et1 habili mixtura accipiatur e2
circumiecto candore lux et5 temperato repercussu
non obstrepat; adeoque his absoluta vis speculi ut
tam parva ilia pupilla tot am imaginem reddat hominis.
ea causa est ut pleraeque alitum e manibus hominum
oculos potissimum appetant, quod effigiem suam in
his cernentes velut ad cognata desideria sua tendunt.
149 veterina tantum quaedam ad incrementa lunae
morbos sentiunt. sed homo solus emisso umore
caecitate liberatur. post vicensimum annum multis
restitutus est visus, quibusdam statim nascentibus
negatus nullo oculorum vitio, multis repente ablatus

1 et hie Rackham : post mixtura.

2 e add. Eackham.
8 v.L e.

a The Kopvpavrcs were priests of Cybele, who was wor-
shipped in Phrygia with frenzied dancing.

BOOK XI. LIV. I46-LV. 149

blinds the eyes by withdrawing the vision inward, and
why when the mind is clouded during an attack of
epilepsy the eyes though open discern nothing.
Moreover hares sleep with the eyes wide open, and
so do many human beings while in the condition
which the Greeks term ' corybantic.'a

Nature has constructed them with thin and multiple Physiology
membranes, and with outside wrappers that are callous °* the ^
against cold and heat, which she repeatedly cleanses
with moisture from the tear-glands, and she has made
the eyes slippery against objects that encounter them,
and mobile. LV. The horny skin in the centre of the
eye nature has furnished with the pupil as a window,
the narrow opening of which does not allow the gaze to
roam uncertain, but so to speak canalizes its direction,
and easily averts objects that encounter it on the
way ; the pupil is surrounded with circles which with
some people are coloured black, with others grey and
with others blue, so that the light from the surroun-
ding radiance both may be received in a suitable
blend and having its reflexion moderated may not be
jarring ; and the efficacy of the mirror is made so
perfect by these means that the small pupil can
reflect the entire image of a human being. This
is the reason why commonly birds when released
from men's hands go first of all for their eyes, be-
cause they see their own likeness reflected in them
and try to reach as it were a desired object that is
akin to themselves. Beasts of burden only experience
diseases at certain phases of the moon. Man alone Cure of
is cured of blindness by the emission of fluid from the bhndne"<
eye. Many have had their sight restored after 20
years of blindness ; some have been blind at birth
owing to no defect in the eyes ; similarly, many have

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sirrxili modo nulla praecedente iniuria. venam ab his
pertinere ad cerebrum peritissimi auctores tradunt ;
ego et ad stomachum crediderim: certe nulli sine

150 redundatione eius eruitur oculus. morientibus illos
operire rursusque in rogo patefacere Quiritium
magno x ritu sacrum est, ita more condito ut neque
ab homine supremum eos spectari fas sit et caelo non
ostendi nefas. uni animalium homini depravantur,
unde cognomina Strabonum et Paetorum. ab iisdem
qui altero lumine orbi nascerentur Coclites voca-
bantur, qui parvis utrisque Ocellae ; Luscini iniuriae

151 cognomen habuerunt. nocturnorum animalium
veluti felium in tenebris fulgent radiantque. oculi ut
contueri non sit, et capreae 2 lupoque splendent
lucemque iaculantur; vituli marini et hyaenae in
mille colores transeunt subinde ; quin et in tenebris
multorum piscium refulgent, aridi sicut robusti
caudices putresque vetustate.3 non conivere dixi-
mus quae non 4 obliquis oculis sed circumacto capite

152 cernerent. chamaeleonis oculos ipsos circumagi
totos tradunt. cancri in oblicum aspiciunt crust a
fragili inclusos gerentes. locustis, squillis magna ex
parte sub eodem munimento praeduri eminent.

1 Magno v.l. om.

2 Gelen : caprae.

3 Mayhoff: vetustate putresque.

4 non add. ex VIII. 107 edd.

0 Codes and luscus "both appear to denote a peison blind in
one eye.-

526

BOOK XL LV. 149-152

suddenly lost their sight without any previous injury.
The most learned authorities state that the eyes are
connected with the brain by a vein ; for my own part
I am inclined to believe that they are also thus
connected with the stomach: it is unquestionable
that a man never has an eye knocked out without
vomiting. There is a solemn ritual custom among
Roman citizens to close the eyes of the dying and
to open them again on the funeral pyre, custom having
established that it is not right for the eyes to be seen
by a human being at the last moment and also wrong
for them not to be displayed to the heavens. Man
is the only animal whose eyes are liable to dis-
tortion, which is the origin of the family names
Squint-eye and Blinky, From the eyes also came the
name of One-eye that used to be given to persons
born blind in one eye, and that of Eyelet given to
persons both of whose eyes were small ; the One-eye
family a received the name of an injury done to one
of them. The eyes of night-roaming animals like sight of
cats shine and flash in the dark so that one cannot
look at them, and those of the wild-goat and the
wolf gleam and shoot out light ; the eyes of the sea-
calf and of the hyena change frequently into a thou-
sand colours ; moreover those of many fishes shine
out even in the dark, like oak-tree stumps when dry
and rotten with age. We have stated that creatures
that do not direct their gaze by slanting the eyes but
by turning the head round do not wink. It is re-
ported that the chamaeleon's eyes turn themselves
entirely round. Crabs look sideways, having their
eyes enclosed in a fragile shell. Lobsters and shrimps
mostly have very hard eyes projecting under a
protection of the same kind. Creatures with hard

527

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quorum duri sunt minus cernunt quam quorum umidi.
serpentium catulis et hirundinum pullis si quis eruat

153 renasci tradunt. insectorum omnium et testacei
operimenti oculi moventur sicut quadripedum aures.
quibus fragilia operimenta, his oculi duri. omnia
talia et pisces et insecta non habent genas nee
integunt oculos; omnibus membrana vitri mo do
tralucida obtenditur.

154 LVI. Palpebrae in genis homini utrimque. mulieri-
bus fuco x etiam infectae cotidiano : tanta est
decoris adfectatio ut tinguantur oculi quoque. alia
de causa hoc natura dederat, ceu vallum quoddam
visus et prominens munimentum contra occursantia
animalia aut alia fortuito incidentia. defluere eas

155 haut inmerito venere abundantibus tradunt. ex
ceteris nulli sunt nisi quibus et in reliquo corpore pili,
sed quadripedibus in superiore tantum gena, volucri-
bus in inferiore, et quibus molle tergus, ut serpenti-
bus, et quadripedum quae ova pariunt, ut lacertae.
struthocamelus alitum sola ut homo utrimque
palpebras habet.

156 LVIL Ne genae quidem omnibus, item2 neque
nictatio nisi3 his quae animal generant. graviores
alitum inferiore gena conivent, eaedem nictantur ab
angulis membrana obeunte. columbae et similia
utraque conivent. at quadripedes quae ova pariunt,
ut testudines, crocodili, inferiore tantum, sine ulla

1 Mayhoff: vero. 2 item? Mayhoff: ideo.

3 Mayhoff ex Aristotele : nictationis.

528

BOOK XI. LV. 152-Lvn. 156

eyes have less keen sight than those whose eyes are
moist. It is stated that if one removes the eyes of
young snakes and swallow chicks, they grow again.
The eyes of all insects and of creatures with a covering
of shell move like the ears of quadrupeds. Those
with fragile coverings have hard eyes. All such
creatures, and also fish and insects, have no eye-
lids and do not close their eyes; withal the eye is
covered with a membrane that is transparent like
glass.

LVI. Human beings have eyelashes on both eye- The eye-
lids. Women actually have them dyed every day : lasheSm
such is their desire to achieve beauty that they colour
even their eyes ; but really the lashes were bestowed
by nature for another purpose, as a sort of fence
to the sight and a barrier projecting against insects
meeting the eye, or other things accidentally falling
into them. It is said that sexual excess causes them
to drop off, not undeservedly. None of the other
species have them excepting those with hair on the
rest of the body as well, but quadrupeds have them
only on the upper lid, birds on the lower, as also do
creatures with a soft skin, for instance snakes,
and oviparous quadrupeds, for instance lizards.
The ostrich is the only bird with lashes on both eye-
lids like a human being.

LVII. Not all species have eyelids either, and also
only viviparous creatures can wink. The heavier
birds close the eye with the lower lid, and also wink
with a skin that covers the eye from the corner.
Pigeons and similar birds close the eyes with both
lids. But oviparous quadrupeds, such as tortoises
and crocodiles, do so only with the lower lid, without
any winking because their eyes are .extremely

529

VOL. III. M M

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

157 nictatione propter praeduros oculos. extremum
ambitum genae superioris antiqui cilium vocavere,
unde et supercilia. hoc vulnere aliquo diductum
non coalescit, ut in paucis humani corporis membris.

LVIII. Infra oculos malae homini tantum (quas
prisci genas vocabant, xn tabularum interdicto radi
a feminis vetantis). pudori shaec sedes : ibi maxume
ostenditur rubor.

158 LIX. Intra eas hilaritatem risunique indicantes
buccae et altior homini tantum, quern novi mores
sufcdolae inrisioni dicavere, nasus* non alii animal-
ium nares eminent: avibus5 serpentibus, piscibus
foramina tantum ad olfactus sine naribus; et hinc
cognomina Simorum, Silonum. septimo mense gen-
itis saepenumero foramina aurium et narium defuere.

159 LX. Labra, a quibus Brocchi, Labeones dicti, et
os probum duriusve animal generantibus. pro his
cornea et acuta volucribus rostra, eadem rapto
viventibus adunca, collecto recta, herbas eruentibus
limumque lata, ut et * suum generi. iumentis vice
manus ad colligenda pabula. ora apertiora laniatu
viventibus. *

Mention nulli praeter hominem, ut 2 nee malae.
maxillas crocodilus tantum superiores movet, terres-
tres quadrupedes ecxTem quo cetera more praeterque
in oblicum.

1 Mayhoff: nil 2 ut add. ? Mayhoff.

a When mourning for a death : Mulieres genas ne radunto,
neve lessum (wailing) funeris ergo habento.

530

BOOK XI. LYII. I56-LX. 159

hard. The old name for the edge of the upper eyelid
was dlium\ hence our word for the brows. When
the eyelid is cleft by a wound it does not grow to-
gether again, as is the case with a few other parts
of the human body.

LVIII. Only man has cheeks below the eyes (the The cheeks
old word for the cheeks was genae, used in the Twelve
Tables in the prohibition of women's lacerating
them).* The cheeks are the seat of modesty : on
them a blush is most visible.

LIX. The face between the cheek-bones displays The nose.
merriment and laughter, and higher up, but in man
only, stands the nose, which modern fashion has made
the organ of sly mockery. No other animal has pro-
jecting nostrils, birds, snakes and fishes only having
apertures for smelling, without nostrils and this is
the origin of the surnames Snubby and Pug. Seven-
month children have frequently been born lacking
the apertures of tKe ears and nostrils.

LX. The viviparous species have lips — whence the The mouth.
surnames Lippy and Blubber-lips — and a well-shaped
or rather harsh mouth. Instead of lips birds have
pointed beaks of horn, which are hooked in birds of
prey, straight in those that live by pecking, and
broad in those that dig up grass and mud, like the
snouts of the swine class. Cattle use their mouths
instead of a hand for gathering fodder. Beasts that
live by tearing up their prey have mouths that open
wider.

No creature but man has a chin, any more than Thejw.
cheeks. The crocodile moves only the upper jaw;
four-footed land animals open the mouth in the same
way, as all other creatures and in addition move the
lower jaw sideways.

$3?

MM2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

160 LXI. Dentium tria genera, serrati aut continui
aut exerti serrati : pectinatim coeuntes, ne contrario
occursu atterantur, ut serpentibus, piscibus, canibus ;
continui, ut homini, equo ; exerti, ut apro, hippopot-
amo, elephanto. continuorum qui digerunt cibum
lati et acuti, qui conficiunt duplices, qui discriminant

161 eos canini appellantur. hi sunt serratis longissimi.
continui aut utraque parte oris sunt, ut equo, aut
superior e primores non sunt, ut bubus, ovibus
omnibusque quae ruminant, caprae superiores non
sunt praeter primores geminos. nulli exerti quibus
serrati, raro feminae, et tamen sine usu ; itaque cum

162 apri percutiant, feminae sues mordent, nulli cui
cornua exerti, sed omnibus concavi; ceteris dentes
solidi. piscium omnibus serrati praeter scarum, huic
uni aquatilium plani. cetero multis eorum in lingua et
toto ore, ut turba vulnerum molliant quae adtritu
subigere non queunt. multis et in palato [atque etiam
in cauda],1 praeterea in os vergentes, ne excidant cibi,
nullum habentibus retinendi adminiculum.

163 LXII. Similes aspidi et serpentibus, sed duo in
supera parte dextra laevaque longissimi, tenui
fistula perforati ut scorpionis 2 aculei, venenum

1 sed. coll. Ar. Maytioff.

2 Maykoff (?} : scorpion!.

0 This odd addition is lacking in Aristotle.

532

BOOK XL LXI. i6o-Lxn. 163

LXI. There are three lands of teeth — serrated or The teeth.
continuous or projecting: serrated teeth closing to-
gether like the teeth of a comb, so as not to be worn
away by direct collision, as in snakes , fishes and dogs ;
continuous, as in man and the horse ; projecting, as in
the boar, hippopotamus and elephant. Of continu-
ous teeth those that separate the food (incisors),
are called the broad or sharp teeth, those
that masticate it double teeth, and those be-
tween these dog-teeth. The latter are longest in
creatures with serrated teeth. Continuous teeth
are either in both jaws, as with the horse, or else there
are no front teeth in the upper jaw, as with oxen and
sheep and all the ruminants. The goat has no upper
teeth except the pair in front. Species having
serrated teeth have no projecting teeth, and a female
rarely has them, and when she has them does not use
them; consequently though boars gore, sows bite.
No species with horns has projecting teeth, but all
have curved ones; all the other species have solid
teeth. All kinds of fish have serrated teeth except
the parrot-fish — this is the only aquatic species that
has level teeth. Many of them however have teeth on
the tongue and all over the mouth, so as to soften by
means of a multiplicity of wounds objects that they
are unable to reduce by mastication. Many also
have teeth on the palate [and also on the tail,]fl and
also turned further into the mouth, so as to prevent
morsels of food from falling out, as they have no
apparatus for retaining it,

LXII. The asp and serpent have similar teeth, The teeth of
but two extremely long ones on the right and left
side of the upper jaw, perforated by a slender tube
like the stings of the scorpion, which inject poison.

533

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

infundentes. non aliud hoc esse quam fel serpentium,
et inde venas sub spinarad os pervenire diligentissimi
auctores scribunt; quidam unum esse eum et quia
sit aduncus resupinari cum momorderit ; aliqui turn
decidere eum rursusque recrescere facilem decussu,

164 et sine eo esse quas tractari cernamus; scorpionis
caudae inesse eum, ut plerique l ternos. viperis
dentes gingiva conduntur. haec eodem praegnans
veneno inpressum 2 dentium repulsu virus fundit in
morsus. volucrum nulli dentes praeter vespertil-
ionem. camelus una ex his quae non sunt cornigera
in superiore maxilla primores non habet. cornua
habentium nulli serrati. et cocleae dentes habent ;

165 indicio est vel3 a minimis earum derosa vicia. at
in marinis crustata et cartilaginea primores habere,
item echinis quinos esse unde intellegi potuerit
miror. dentium vice aculei sunt 4 insectis. Simiae
dentes ut homini. elephanto intus ad mandendurn
quattuor, praeterque eos qui prominent masculis
reflexi, feminis recti atque proni. musculus marinus
qui ballaenam antecedit nullos habet, sed pro
iis saetis intus os hirtum et linguam etiam ac
palatum. terrestrium minutis quadripedibus prim-
ores bini utrimque longissimi.

166 LXIII. Ceteris cum ipsis nascuntur, homini

1 sic ? Mayhoff : et plerisque.

2 Mayhoff; impresso.

8 vel add. ? Mayhoff (ipse et).
4 Detlefsen : aculeis aut aculeus.

a I.e. by snake-charmers.

5 Really this is the case with very f e

554

BOOK XL LXII. 163-1x111. 166

The most accurate authorities write that this poison
is nothing else than the serpents' gall, and that veins
pass from the gall-bladder under the spine to the
mouth ; certain writers say that it is only one tooth,
and that as it is hooked it is sloped backward when it
has inflicted a bite; some authorities state that it
then falls out and afterwards grows again, as it is
very easy to dislodge, and that the snakes that we
see handled a lack this tooth ; and that the scorpion
has this tooth in its tail — as according to most
authorities it has three. The vipers' teeth are
concealed in its gum. Their gum is charged with
the same poison, and when squeezed by the pressure
of the teeth pours out its venom into the bites
inflicted. No winged creature except the bat has The teeth
teeth. The camel is the only animal without horns
that has not got front teeth in the upper jaw. No
horned animal has serrated teeth. Even snails
have teeth ; this is proved by the fact that even the
smallest of them gnaw vetches. But I wonder
what possible ground there is for the view that
among marine species shell-fish and cartilaginous
fish have front teeth, and also that sea-urchins have
five. Insects have stings instead of teeth. The
monkey has teeth like those of a human being. The
elephant has four inner teeth for masticating, and
besides these the prominent tusks that are bent
backward in the male and slope straight downward
in the female. The sea-mouse that swims in front
of the whale has no teeth, but instead of them its
mouth inside and also its tongue and palate are set
with bristles. Of land animals very small quadrupeds
have two extremely long front teeth in each jaw.
LXIII. All the other animals are born with teeth,6

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

postquam natus est septimo mense. reliquis perpetui
mauentj mutantur homini, leoni, iumento, card et
ruminantibus, sed leoni et card non nisi canini
appellati. lupi dexter caninus in magicis 1 habetur
opibus.2 maxillares, qui sunt a caninis, nullum
animal mutat. homini novissimi qui genumi vocan-
tur, circiter vicensimum annum, gignuntur, multis
et octogensimo, feminis quoque, sed quibus in iuventa

167 non fuere nati. decider e in senecta et mox renasci
certum est. Zoclen Samothracem cui renati essent
post civ annos Mucianus visum a se prodidit.
cetero maribus plures quam feminis in homine,
pecude, capra, sue. Timarchus Nicoclis filius Paphi
duos ordines habuit maxillarium; frater eius non
mutavit primores, ideoque praetrivit. est exemplum
dentis homini et in palato geniti. a caninis 3 amissi
casu aliquo numquam renascuntur. ceteris senecta
rufescunt, equo tantum candidiores fiunt.

168 LXIV. Aetas veterinorum dentibus indicatur.
equo sunt numero XL. amittit tricensimo mense
primores utrimque binos, sequenti anno totidem
proximos, cum subeunt dicti columellares ; quinto
anno incipiente amittit binos, qui sexto anno renas-
cuntur; septimo omnes habet et renatos et inmut-

169 abilis. equo castrato prius non decidunt dentes.

1 magicis ? Detlefsen : magnis.

2 opibus? Mayhoff". operibus.
s at canini vel a gentdnis edd.

a All these statements are erroneous.
* Of. XXVIII 257.
536

BOOK XI. LXIII. i66-Lxiv. 169

but man grows them six months after birth. All the ^^/»
rest keep their teeth permanently, but man, the lion,
the beasts of burden, dogs and ruminant animals shed
them ; with the lion and dog however this only applies
to those called dog-teeth.a The right dog-tooth of a
wolf is held to be valuable as an amulet.6 No
animal sheds its maxillary teeth, the ones next to
the dog-teeth. In man those called wisdom-teeth
grow latest, at about the age of twenty, and in many
cases even at eighty, with females as well, but only in
the case of persons who did not grow them in youth.
It is certain that in old age they fall out and then
grow again. Mucianus has stated that he saw
a Samothracian named Zocles who grew a new
set of teeth when 140 years old. For the rest,
males have more teeth than females in the case of
man, ox, goat and pig-a Timarchus son of Nicocles
at Paphos had two rows of maxillaries ; his brother
i did not shed his front teeth, and consequently wore
them down. There is a case of a person even growing
a tooth in the palate. Any of the dog teeth lost
by some accident never grow again. With all other
species the teeth get red in old age, but in the horse
alone they become whiter.

LXIV. In beasts of burden the teeth are a sign
of their age. A horse has forty teeth ; when two-
and-a-half years old it loses two front ones in each
jaw, and in the following year the same number of
the teeth next these, when they are replaced by
those called grinders ; at the beginning of its fifth
year it looses two teeth, which grow again in its
sixth year ; in its seventh year it has all of its second
teeth and also its permanent ones. A horse
previously gelt does not shed its teeth.a The ass

537

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

asinorum genus tricensimo mense similiter amittit,
dein senis mensibus; quod si non prius peperere
quam decidant postremi, sterilitas certa. boves bimi
mutant, subus non decidunt umquam.

Absumpta hac observatione senectus in equis et
ceteris veterinis intellegitur dentium brocchitate,
superciliorum canitia et circa ea lacunis, cum fere
xvi annorum existimantur.

170 Hominum dentibus quoddam inest virus, namque
et speculi nitorem ex adverse nudati hebetant et
columbarum fetus inplumes necant. reliqua de iis
in generatione hominum dicta sunt. erumpentibus
morbi corpora infantium afficiunt.1 [reliqua] 2
animalia quae serratos habent saevissime dentiunt 3

171 LXV. Linguae non omnibus eodem modo. tenu-
issima serpentibus et trisulca, vibrans, atri coloris
et, si extrahas, praelonga; lacertis bifida et pilosa,
vitulis quoque marinis duplex; sed supra dictis
capillamenti tenuitate. ceteris ad circumlambenda
ora, piscibus paulo minus quam tot a adhaerens,

172 crocodilis tota. sed in gustatu linguae vice carnosum
aquatilibus palatum. leonibus, pardis omnibusque
generis ems, etiam felibus, imbricatae asperitatis ac
limae similis attenuansque lambendo cutem hominis,
quae causa etiam mansuefacta, ubi ad vicinum

1 Detlefsen : accipiunt.

2 seel. ? Mueller ut iteratum (vel <inter> reliqua).

3 saevissima dentibus edd. vet.

a As a matter of fact they are more prolific.

6 This statement is erroneous.

c VH. 68 f oH.

d An emendation gives c are fiercest with their teeth.'

538

BOOK XL LXIV. i69~LXv. 172

family likewise looses teeth when two-and-a-half
years old, and again six months later; those that
have not foaled before they shed their last teeth
are sure to be barren.a Oxen change their teeth
at the age of two. Pigs never shed theirs.6

When this indication has come to an end, old age
in horses and other beasts of burden is inferred from
prominence. of the teeth and greyness of the brows
and hollows round them, when they are judged to be
about sixteen years old.

Human teeth contain a kind of poison, for they other facts
dim the brightness of a mirror when bared in front °* ° ee '
of it and also kill the fledglings of pigeons. The
rest of the facts about the teeth have been told in
the passage c dealing with human reproduction.
Infants when cutting their teeth are specially liable
to illnesses. The animals with serrated teeth have
the severest pain in teething.'*

LXV. Not all species have tongues on the same The tongue.
plan. With snakes the tongue is extremely slender
and three-forked, darting, black in colour, and if
drawn out to full length extremely long; with
lizards it is cleft in two and hairy, and with seals also
it is double; but with the species above mentioned
it is of the fineness of a hair. With the rest it is
available for licking round the jaws, but with fish it
adheres through a little less than its whole length,
and with crocodiles the whole of it. In aquatic
species on the other hand the fleshy palate serves
instead of the tongue in tasting. With lions,
leopards, and all the species of that genus, even
cats, the tongue is rough and corrugated like a file,
and can scrape away the human skm b^y licking,
which provokes evei^those that have been tamed

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sanguinem pervenit saliva, invitat ad rabiem. de

173 purpurarum linguis diximus. ranis prima cohaeret,
intuma absoluta a gutture, qua vocem emittunt
mares, cum vocantur ololygones ; stato id tempore
evenit, cientibus ad coitum feminas. turn siquidem
inferiore labro demisso ad libramentum aquae modice
receptae in fauces palpitante ibi lingua ululatus
eliditur; tune extenti buccarum sinus perlucent,
oculi flagrant labore propulsi.1 quibus in posteriore
parte aculei, his et dentes et lingua, apibus etiam
praelonga, eminens et cicadis ; quibus aculeus in ore
fistulosus, his nee lingua nee dentes. quibusdam
insectis intus lingua, ut formicis ; ceterum latet et 2

174 elephanto praecipue. reliquis in suo genere semper
absoluta, homini tantum ita saepe constricta venis 3
ut intercidi eas necesse sit. Metellum pontificem
adeo inexplanatae fuisse accipimus ut multis mensi-
bus tortus credatur dum meditatur in dedicanda
aede Opi verba 4 dicere ; ceteris septumo ferme anno
sermonem exprimit. multis vero talis ars eius con-
tingit ut avium et animalium vocis indiscreta edatur
imitatio.

1 v.l. perpulsi.

2 Mayhoff ex Aristotek : ceterum lata.

3 an nervis ? Mayhoff.

4 Jan : opifere.

« IX. 128.

b Perhaps this should be a^ered to ' sinews.'

540

BOOK XL LXV. 172-174

to madness when their saliva gets through to the
blood. We have spoken a of the tongues of the
purple-fishes. In frogs the tip of the tongue is
attached but the inner part is loose from the throat ;
it is with this that the males croak, at the time when
they are called croakers; this happens at a fixed
season, when they are calling the females to mate.
In this process they just drop the lower lip and take
into the throat a moderate amount of water and let
the tongue vibrate in it so as to make it undulate,
and a croaking sound is forced out; during this
the curves of the cheeks are distended and become
transparent, and the eyes stand out blazing with
the exertion. Creatures with stings in their hinder
part have teeth and a tongue as well, bees even a
very long tongue, and cicalas also a projecting one;
but those with a tubular sting in the mouth have
neither tongue nor teeth. Some insects have a
tongue inside the mouth, for instance ants; more-
over, the elephant's tongue also is particularly little
visible. With the rest of the animals according to
their kind the tongue is always quite free, but with
man alone it is often so tightly bound by veins &
that they have to be cut. We find it recorded stammering,
that the High Priest Metellus was so tongue-tied
that he is believed to have suffered torture for
many months while practising the formula to be
spoken in dedicating the Temple of Wealth; but
in all other cases of stammering the patient usually
contrives to speak distinctly after reaching the age
of six. Many people on the other hand are en-
dowed with such skill in using the tongue that they
can give imitations of the cries of birds and animals
that are indistinguishable from the real thing.

PLINY : - NATURAL HISTORY

Intellectus saporam ceteris in prima lingua,
homirti et in palato.

175 LXVL Tonsillae in homine, in sue glandulae. quod
inter eas uvae nomine ultumo dependet palato
homini tantum est. sub ea minor lingua nulli ova
generantium. opera eius gemina duabus interpositae
fistulis. interior earum appellatur arteria ad pulmo-

176 nem atque cor pertinens ; hanc operit in epulando
spiritu et voce iliac 1 meante, ne, si potus cibusve in
alienum deerraverit tramitem, torqueat. altera
exterior appellatur sane gula, qua cibus atque
potus devolant; tendit haec ad stomachum, is ad
ventrem. hanc per vices operit, curn spiritus tantum
aut vox commeat, ne restagnatio intempestiva alvi
obstrepat. ex cartilagine et carne arteria, gula e
nervo et carne constat.

177 LXVII. Cervix nulli nisi quibus utraque haec;-
ceteris collum, quibus tantum gula. sed quibus
cervix, e multis vertebratisque orbiculatim ossibus
flexilis ad circumspectum articulorum nodis iungitur,
leoni tantum et lupo et hyaenae singulis rectisque

178 ossibus rigens. cetero spinae adnectitur, spina
lumbis, ossea sed tereti structura, per media fora-
mina a cerebro medulla descendente. eandem esse
el naturam quam cerebro colligunt quoniam prae-

1 Rackham (in illo Mayhoff c/. § 266) : ilia.

0 I.e. the epiglottis.
542

BOOK XL LXV. 174-Lxvn. 178

With all the other species the tip of the tongue *<****•
is the seat of taste, but with man this is also situated
in the palate.

LXVL Man has tonsils, the pig glands. Man Tonsils,
alone has what is called the uvula hanging from the S^*X
back of the palate between the tonsils. No oviparous vull<*>
species possesses the lesser tongue a below the
uvula. Its functions are twofold, placed as it is
between two tubes. Of these the inner one called
the windpipe stretches to the lungs and the heart;
this the lesser tongue closes while food is being
eaten, as breath and voice passes along it, lest if
drink or food should pass into the wrong channel,
it might cause pain. The other, the outer tube, is
of course called the gullet, down which food and
drink fall; this leads to the stomach, and the
stomach to the abdomen. This passage the lesser
tongue occasionally closes, when only breath or
voice is passing, so that an untimely rising of the
stomach may not interfere. The windpipe consists
of gristle and flesh, the gullet of sinew and flesh.

LXVIL No species except those possessing both The nape.
windpipe and gullet have a nape; all the others,,
which have only a gullet, have a neck. But in those
possessing a nape it is composed of a number of
bones articulated in rings with jointed vertebrae,
so as to be capable of bending to look round ; only
in the lion and wolf and hyena is it a stiff structure
of a single straight bone. Moreover it is connected
with the spine, and the spine with the loins,, in &
bony but rounded structure, the marrow passing
down from the brain through the orifices in the
vertebrae. It is inferred that the spinal cord is of
the same substance as the brain for the reason that,

543

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tenui ems nxembrana modo incisa statim expiretur.
quibus longa crura his longa et colla ; item aquaticis
quamvis brevia crura habentibus, simili modo uncos
ungues.

179 LXVIII. Guttur homini tantum et subus intumes-
cit aquarum quae potantur plerumque vitio. sum-
mum gulae fauces vocantur, postremum stomachus.
hoc nomine est sub arteria iam carnosa inanitas adnexa
spinae, ad latitudinem ac longitudinem lagoenae
modo fusa. quibus fauces non sunt ne stomachus
quidem est, nee colla nee guttur, ut piscibus, et ora

180 ventribus iunguntur. testudini marinae lingua
nulla est nee dentes, rostri acie comminuit omnia.
postea arteria et stomachus denticulatus callo in
modum rubi ad conficiendos cibos, decrescentibus
rimis * quicquid 2 adpropinquent ventri ; novissima
asperitas ut scobinae 3 fabrilis.

181 LXIX. Cor animalibus ceteris medio pectore est,
homini tantum infra laevam papillam turbinato
mucrone in priora eminens. piscibus solis ad os
speetat. hoc primum nascentibus formari in utero
tradunt, deinde cerebrum, sicut tardissime oculos,
sed hos primum emori, cor novissime. huic praeci-
puus calor. palpitat certe et quasi alterum movetur
intra animal, praemolli firmoque opertum membranae
involucre, munitum cost arum et pectoris muro, ut

1 rimis ? Mayhoff : renis. 2 quacunque ? Hardouin.
3 Mayhoff; scobina.

0 As a matter of fact it has a tongue.
544

BOOK XI. LXVII. xyS-Lxrx. 181

if its extremely slender membrane is merely cut into,
death follows immediately. Species with long legs
also have long necks ; as also have aquatic species
even though they have short legs, and similarly
if they have hooked claws.

LXVIII. Man and swine alone suffer from swollen ^e gullet
throat, usually due to bad drinking water. The top Windpipe.
part of the gullet is called the pharynx and the bottom
part the stomach. This name denotes the cavity
attached to the spine below the fleshy part of the
windpipe, bulging out lengthwise and breadthwise
like a flagon. Species without a pharynx, for
instance fishes, have no stomach either, and no neck
nor throat, and the mouth is joined to the abdomen.
The sea tortoise has not got a tongue a or teeth, but
breaks up all its food with the point of its snout.
Next comes the windpipe and the stomach, denti-
culated with ridges of thick skin like bramble-thorns
for the purpose of grinding up the food, the interstices
growing smaller in proportion as they are nearer to
the^ abdomen : at the bottom it is as rough as a
carpenter's rasp.

LXIX. The heart with the other animals is in the The heart,
middle of the chest, but in man alone it is below the \ions. c~
left breast, with its conical end projecting forward,
In fishes only it points towards the mouth. It is
stated that at birth the heart is the first organ
formed in the womb, and next the brain, just as the
eyes develop latest, but that the eyes are the first
to die and the heart the last. The heart is the
warmest part. It has a definite beat and a motion
of its own as if it were a second animal inside the
animal; it is wrapped with a very soft and firm
covering of membrane, and protected by the wall

545

VOL. III. NN

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

182 pariat praecipuam vitae causam et originem. prima
domicilia intra se animo et sanguini praebet sinuoso
specu et in magnis animalibus triplici, in nullo non
gemino; ibi mens habitat, ex hoc fonte duae
grandes venae in priora * et terga discurrunt, sparsa-
que ramorum serie per alias minores omnibus mem-
bris vitalem sanguinem rigant. solum hoc viscerum
vitiis non maceratur; nee supplicia vitae trahit,
laesumque mortem ilico adfert. ceteris corruptis
vitalitas in corde durat.

183 LXX. Bruta existimantur animalium quibus durum
riget, audacia quibus parvum est, pavida quibus
praegrande ; maximum autem est portione muribus,
lepori, asino, cervo, pantherae, mustelis, hyaenis et
omnibus aut 2 timidis aut propter metum maleficis.
in Paphlagonia bina perdicibus corda. in equorum

184 et bourn ossa reperiuntur interdum. augeri id per
singulos annos in homine et binas drachmas ponderis
ad quinquagensimum annum accedere, ab eo detrahi
tantundem, et ideo non vivere hominem ultra centen-
simum annum defectu cordis Aegyptii existimant,

185 quibus mos est cadavera adservare medicata. hirto
corde gigni quosdam homines proditur, neque alios
fortioris esse industriae,sicutAristomenenMessenium

1 v.l. prorsa. 2 aut add. Rackham.

0 Really it is four-fold.
546

BOOK XT. LXIX. i8i-Lxx. 185

of the ribs and chest, so that it may give birth to
the principle cause and origin of life. It provides
the vital principle and the blood with their primary
abodes inside it, in a winding recess which in large
animals is three-fold a and in all others without
exception double; this is the dwelling-place of
the mind. From this source two large veins run
apart to the front and the back of the body, and
diffuse the blood of life through other smaller veins
with a spreading system of branches to all the limbs.
The heart alone is not tortured by the defects of the
inner organs ; and it does not prolong the torments
of life, and when wounded at once brings death.
When the rest of the parts have been injured vitality
continues in the heart.

LXX. The view is held that dull creatures are
those whose heart is stiff and hard, bold ones those
whose heart is small, and cowardly ones those in
which it is specially large; but it is largest in
proportion to their size in mice, the hare, the ass,
the stag, the leopard, weasels, hyenas, and all the
species that are either timid or rendered dangerous
by fear. Partridges in Paphlagonia have two
hearts. Bones are occasionally found in the heart
of horses and oxen. The people of Egypt, who
practise the custom of mummification, have a belief
that the human heart grows larger every year and
at the age of fifty reaches a weight of a quarter of an
ounce, and from that point loses weight at the
same rate ; and that consequently a man does not
live beyond a hundred, owing to heart failure. It
is stated that some people are born with a hairy
heart, and that they are exceptionally brave and
resolute — an example being a Messenian named

547

NN 2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

qui trecentos occidit Lacedaemonios. ipse convol-
neratus captus semel per cavernam lautumiarum
evasit angustias volpium aditus secutus. iterum
captus sopitis custodibus somno ad ignem advolutus
lora cum corpore exussit. tertium capto Lacedae-
monii pectus dissecuere viventi, hirsutumque cor
repertum est.

186 LXXI. In corde summo pinguitudo quaedam est
laetis extis. non semper autem in parte extorum
habitum est ; L. Postumio L. f. Albino rege sacrorum
post cxxvi Olympiadem, cum rex Pyrrhus ex Italia
decessissetjcorin extis haruspices inspicere coeperunt.
Caesari dictatori, quo die primum veste purpurea
processit atque in sella aurea sedit, sacrificanti in
extis defuit; unde quaestio magna de divinatione
argumentantibus, potueritne sine illo viscere hostia

187 vivere an ad tempus amiserit. negatur cremari
posse in iis qui cardiaco morbo obierint, negatur et
veneno * interemptis ; certe exstat oratio Vitelli
qua Gnaeum Pisonem eius sceleris coarguit hoc
usus argumento, palamque testatus non potuisse ob
venenum cor Germanici Caesaris cremari. contra
genere morbi defensus est Piso.

1 <de) veneno ? Rackham.
a 275 B.C. 6 In A.D. 19.

548

BOOK XI, LXX. i85-LXxi. 187

Aristomenes who killed three hundred Spartans.
He himself when severely wounded and taken
prisoner for the first time escaped through a cave
from confinement in the quarries by following the
routes by which foxes got in. He was again taken
prisoner, but when his guards were fast asleep he
rolled to the fire and burnt off his thongs, burning
his body in the process. He was taken a third time,
and the Spartans cut him open alive and his heart
was found to be shaggy.

LXXI. In victims whose organs are propitious The heart in
there is a certain fatness on the top of the heart. dMmtion-
But the heart was not always considered as one of
the significant organs ; it was after the 126th
Olympiad, when Lucius Postumius Albinus, son of
Lucius, was King of Sacrifices, after King Pyrrhus
had evacuated Italy ,a that the augurs began to
inspect the heart among the organs. On the day
when Caesar as dictator first went in procession
dressed in purple and took his seat on a golden
throne, when he performed a sacrifice the heart was
lacking among the organs; and this gave rise to
much debate among the students of divination, as
to whether the victim had been able to live without
that organ or had lost it at the time. It is stated
that at the cremation of persons who have died of
heart disease the heart cannot be burnt, and the
same is said of persons that have been killed by
poison; undoubtedly there is extant a speech of
vitellius that employs this argument to prove Gnaeus
Piso guilty of poisoning,6 and explicitly uses the evi-
dence that it had been impossible to cremate the heart
of Germanicus Caesar on account of poison. In reply
Piso's defence was based on the nature of the disease.

S49

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

188 LXXII. Sub eo pulmo est spirandique officina,
attrahens ac reddens animam, idcirco spongeosus ac
fistulis inanibus cavus. pauca eum, ut dictum est,
habent aquatilia, cetera ova parientia exiguum
spumosumque nee sanguineum; ideo non sitiunt.
eadem est causa quare sub aqua diu ranae et phocae
urinentur. testudo quoque, quamvis praegrandem
et sub toto tegumento habeat, sine sanguine tamen
habet. quanto minor hie corporibus tanto velocitas
maior. chamaeleoni portione maximus et nihil
aliud intus.

189 LXXIII. lecur in dextera parte est; in eo quod
caput extorum vocant, magnae varietatis. M.
Marcello circa mortem, cum periit ab Hannibale,
defuit in extis; sequenti . deinde die geminum
repertum est. defuit et C. Mario cum immolaret
Uticae, item Gaio principi kal. Ian., cum iniret
consulatum quo anno interfectus est, Claudio succes-

190 sori eius quo mense interemptus est veneno. divo
Augusto Spoleti sacrificanti primo potestatis suae die
sex victimarum iocinera replicata intrinsecus ab ima
fibra reperta sunt, responsumque duplicaturum intra
annum imperium. caput extorum tristis ostenti
caesum quoque est, praeterquam in sollicitudine ac

0 THs is not the case. * 208 B.C. c 107 B.C.

d Caligula, murdered A.D. 41, * 13 Oct. A.r>. 54.

55<>

BOOK XL LXXII. i88~Lxxm. 190

LXXII. Below the heart are situated the lungs,
the breathing apparatus, drawing in and sending
back the breath, and consequently spongy in sub-
stance and perforated with empty tubes. As has
been said, few aquatic species possess lungs, and in
the oviparous species they are small and contain
froth, not blood ; consequently these species do not
experience thirst. The same cause makes it possible
for frogs and seals to stay long under water. Also
the lungs of the tortoise, although very large and
spreading under the whole of its shell, are nevertheless
devoid of blood. The speed of a creature's movement
varies inversely with the size of its lungs. The
chamaeleon's lungs are extremely large in proportion
to its size,0 and it has no other internal organ.

LXXIIL The liver is on the right hand side;
contains what is called the head of the internal
organs, which varies a great deal. Marcus Marcellus,
near the time of his death, b when he was killed by
Hannibal, found the liver missing among the organs,
but on the following day a double liver was dis-
covered. The liver was also missing with Gaius
Marius when he offered sacrifice c at Utica, and also
with the Emperor Gaius * on January 1 at the com-
mencement of his consulship in the year of his murder,
and with his successor Claudius in the month in which
he was poisoned.6 When the late lamented Augustus
was sacrificing at Spoleto on the first day he was in
power the livers of six victims were found with the
bottom of their tissue folded back inward, and this
was interpreted to mean that he would double his
power within a year. It is also of gloomy omen
when the head of the liver is accidentally cut—-
except at a period of trouble and alarm, when it

55*

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

metu; tune enim perimit curas. bina iocinera
leporibus circa Briletum et Tharnem et in Cherroneso
ad Propontidem, mirumque, tralatis alio interit
alterum.

191 LXXIV. In eodem est fel, non omnibus datum
animalibus. in Euboeae Chalcide nullum pecori, in
Naxo praegrande geminumque, ut sit 1 prodigii loco
utrumque advenae. equi, muli, asini, cervi, capreae,
aprij cameli, delphini non habent; murium aliqui
habent. hominum paucis non est, quorum valitudo

192 firmior et vita longior. sunt qui equo non quidem
in iecore esse sed in alvo putent et cervo in cauda aut
intestinis, ideo tantam amaritudinem ut a canibus non
attingantur. est autem nihil aliud quam purga-
mentum, pessimumque sanguinis ideo et2 in materia
eius. certe iecur nulli est nisi sanguinem habentibus.
accipit hoc a corde cui iungitur, funditque in venas.

193 LXXV. Sed in felle nigro insaniae causa homini,
morsque toto reddito. hinc et in mores crimen
bilis nomine : adeo magnum est in hac parte
virus cum se fundit in animum. quin et toto vagum
corpore colorem oculis quoque aufert, illud 3 quidem
redditum etiam aenis, nigrescuntque contacta eo,
ne quis miretur id venenum esse serpentium.

1 sit add. Mayfioff. 2 Mayhoff : et ideo.

3 ilium I Mayhoff.

0 I.e. any visitor to either place who has occasion to offer
a sacrifice there,
b I.e. into which the fluid is passed.

552

BOOK XL LXXIII. IQO-LXXV. 193

removes anxieties. Hares with two livers are found
in the district of Briletum and Thames and in
the Chersonese on the Sea of Marmara, and surprising
to say, when the animals are moved to another place
one of the two livers disappears.

LXXIV. The liver also contains the gall-bladder,
but not all animals possess one. At Chalcis in
Euboea the cattle have none, while at Naxos they
have a very large double one, so that both facts seem
portentous to a stranger.*2 Horses, mules, asses,
stags, wild goats, boars, camels and dolphins have
not got one; some mice have. Among human beings
few lack one ; those who do are exceptionally strong
in health and long-lived. Some think that the horse
has a gall-bladder not indeed in the liver but in the
belly, and that the stag has one in the tail or in the
bowels, and that consequently, they have such a
bitter flavour that dogs will not touch them. But
as a matter of fact it is only excrement, and because
of this the substance of this part also contains the
worst portion of the blood. Unquestionably only
sanguineous animals possess a liver. The liver
receives the blood from the heart with which it is
connected, and passes it into the veins.

LXXV. But with a human being black gall contains 0g
the cause of insanity, and when it is all excreted ofgoii.
death follows. Hence the reproach made against a
man's character under the term ' bile * : so powerful
a poison is contained in this part when it spreads to
the mind. Moreover when it is diffused all over the
body it takes away the colour even of the eyes, and
indeed, when excreted, even from bronze vessels,6
which turn black when touched by it — so that no-
body need be surprised that snakes' gall is poison.

553

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

194 carent eo quae apsinthio vescuntur in Ponto. sed
renibus et parte tantum1 altera intestine iungitur
in corvis, coturnicibus, phasianis, quibusdam intestine
tantum, ut in columbis, accipitre, murenis; paucis
avium in iecore. serpentibus portione maxime

195 copiosum et piscibus. avibus2 autem est toto pleris-
que intestino, sicut accipitri, milvo ; praeterea et in
iecore est, ut cetis omnibus.3 vitulis quidem marinis
ad multa quoque nobile. taurorum felle aureus
ducitur color; haruspices id Neptuno et umoris
potentiae dicavere, geminumque fuit divo Augusto
quo die apud Actium vicit*

196 LXXVI. Murium iocusculis fibrae ad numerum
lunae in mense congruere dicuntur, totidemque
inveniri quotum lumen eius sit; praeterea bruma
increscere. cuniculorum exta in Baetica gemina
saepe reperiuntur. ranarum rubetarum altera libra
a formicis non attingitur propter venenum, ut
arbitrantur. iecur maxime vetustatis patiens cen-
tenis durare annis obsidionum exempla 4 prodidere.

197 LXXVIL Exta serpentibus et lacertis longa.
Caecinae Volaterrano dracones emicuisse de extis
laeto prodigio traditur ; et profecto nihil incredibile

1 tamen Mayhoff.

2 avibus add. Sttlig.

3 sic, edd. : praeterea et in pectore est et ceteris avibus.

4 nomina auctorum in his latere videntur : Mayhojf.

a Defeat of Antony, 31 B.C.

6 Probably the Latin is,corrupt and conceals the names of
authorities for the statement.

554

BOOK XL LXXV. 194-Lxxvii. 197

(Animals in the Pontus that eat wormwood are
free from bile.) Again the gall-bladder is connected
with the kidneys and only on one side with the
intestine in ravens,, quails and pheasants, and in some
only with the intestine, as in pigeons, the hawk,
lampreys; and with a few birds it is in the liver.
With snakes it is proportionally extremely copious,
and so with fishes. But with birds it usually fills the
whole intestine, as with the hawk and kite ; moreover
it is also in the liver, as in the case of all the large
marine animals. Indeed in the case of seals it is in
high repute for many purposes as well. From bulls'
gall a golden colour is extracted. The augurs have
consecrated the gall to Neptune and the power of
the watery element, and the late lamented Augustus
found a double gall-bladder on the day on which he
won the battle of Actium.a

LXXVI. It is said that the filaments in the tiny
livers of mice correspond with the number of the
days of the moon in the month, and are found to
correspond with its degree of light ; and also that
they grow larger with winter. Rabbits are often
found in Southern Spain with a double set of in-
ternal organs. One of the two filaments of toads
ants do not touch, because of their poison, as is
believed. The liver is extremely capable of enduring
age, and has been proved by instances of sieges & to
last a hundred years.

LXXVII. Snakes and lizards have long internal Jg
organs. There is a record that when a person at organs
Volterra named Caecina was performing a sacrifice,
some snakes darted out from the internal organs of
the victim — a joyful portent; and indeed it would
seem nothing incredible to those considering that on

555

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sit aestimantibus Pyrrho regi quo die periit praecisa
hostiarum capita repsisse sanguinem suum lambentia.
exta homini ab inferiore viscerum parte separantur
membrana, quam praecordia appellant quia cordi
praetenditur : quod Graeci appellaverunt <£ptvas.

198 omnia quidem principalia viscera membranis propriis
ac velut vaginis inclusit providens natura; in hac
fuit et peculiaris causa vicinitas alvi, ne cibo suppri-
meretur animus, huic certe refertur accepta sub-
tilitas mentis; ideo nulla est ei caro, sed nervosa
exilitas. in eadem praecipua hilaritatis sedes, quod
titillatu maxime intellegitur alarum ad quas subit,
non aliubi tenuiore humana cute ideoque scabendi
dulcedine ibi proxima. ob hoc in praeliis gladiator-
umque spectaculis mortem cum risu traiecta prae-
cordia attulerunt.

199 LXXVIII. Subest venter stomachum habentibus,
ceteris simplex, ruminantibus geminus, sanguine
carentibus nullus ; . intestinum enim ab ore incipiens
quibusdam eodem reflectitur, ut saepiae et polypo.
in homine adnexus infimo stomacho similis canino.
his solis animalium inferiore parte angustior, itaque
et sola vomunt, quia repleto propter angustias
supprimitur cibus, quod accidere non potest iis

°- 2?2 B.O. & The octopus.

556

BOOK XL LXXVII. 197-Lxxviii. 199 -

the day on which King Pyrrhus dieda the heads of
his victims when cut off crawled about licking up
their own blood. In man the chief internal organs
are .separated from the lower part of the viscera by
a membrane which is called the praecordia (dia-
phragm), because it is stretched prae (in front of)
the cor (heart) : the Greek word for it is phrenes.
Indeed provident Nature has enclosed all the prin-
cipal internal organs with special membranes serving
as sheaths ; but in the case of this membrane a special
cause also was the proximity of the bowels, to pre-
vent the food from pressing down on the vital prin-
ciple. To this membrane unquestionably is due the
subtilty of the intellect; it consequently has no
flesh, but is of a spare sinewy substance. In it also
is the chief seat of merriment, a fact that is gathered
chiefly from tickling the arm-pits to which it rises,
as nowhere else is the human skin thinner, and conse-
quently the pleasure of scratching is closest there.
On this account there have been cases in battle and
in gladiatorial shows of death caused by piercing the
diaphragm that has been accompanied by laughter.

LXXVTII. In creatures possessing a stomach the The stomach
abdomen is below it ; it is single in the other species
but double in the ruminants. Species without blood
have no stomach, because in some, for instance the
cuttle-fish and the polyp,6 the intestine beginning at
the mouth bends back to the same point. In man
the abdomen is connected with the bottom of the
stomach, like the dog's. These are the only animals
in which it is narrower at the lower part, and con-
sequently they are the only ones that vomit, because
when the abdomen is full this na-rrowness prevents
the food from passing, which cannot happen to those

557

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quorum spatiosa laxitas eum in inferiora trans-
mittit.

200 LXXIX. Ab hoc ventriculo lactes in ove et homine
per quas labitur cibus, in ceteris hillae a quibus
capaciora intestina ad alvum,hominique flexuosissimis
orbibus. idcirco magis avidi ciborum quibus ab alvo
longius spatium ; item minus sollertes quibus obesis-
simus venter, aves quoque geminos sinus habent
quaedam, unum quo merguntur recentia ad * guttur,
alterum in quem ex eo dimittunt concoctione ma-
turata, ut gallinae, palumbes, columbae, perdices.

201 ceterae fere carent eo, sed gula patentiore utuntur,
ut graculi, corvi, cornices, quaedam neutro modo,
sed ventrem proximum habent , quibus praelonga colla
et angusta, ut porphyrioni. venter solidipedum
asper et durus. terrestrium aliis denticulatae asperi-
tatis, aliis cancellatim mordacis. quibus neque
dentes utrimque nee ruminatio, hie conficiuntur

202 cibi, hinc in alvum delabuntur. media haec umbilico
adnexa in2 omnibus, in homine suillae infima parte
similis, a Graecis appellatur colon, ubi dolorum magna
causa, angustissima canibus, qua de causa vehementi
nisu nee sine cruciatu levant earn, insatiabilia
animalium quibus a ventre protinus recto intestino

1 Detlefseti : ut vel ant. a in add. Oelen.

558

BOOK XL LXXVIII. i99~Lxxix. 202

in which the roomy laxity of the abdomen passes
the food on to the lower parts.

LXXIX. From this abdomen start in the sheep
and in man the smaller intestines through which the
food passes, and in the other species the entrails, o
from which the roomier intestines pass to the belly,
and in the case of man in extremely winding coils.
On this account species in which the distance from
the belly is longer are greedier for food; moreover
those with a very fat abdomen are less clever.
Birds also in some cases have two receptacles, one
down which food just eaten passes to the throat, the
other into which they pass the food from the throat
when digested — e.g. hens, ring-doves, pigeons and
partridges. Almost all the other species in most
cases have not got this, but make use of a more
widely opened gullet, for instance jays, ravens
and crows. Some species treat the food in neither
manner, but have the abdomen very near ; these are
species that have specially long and narrow necks,
for instance the sultana-hen. The abdomen of
whole-hoofed animals is rough and hard. In that of
some land animals the roughness is denticulated,
and in that of others it has a latticed bite. Species
that are without teeth in both jaws and that do not
ruminate digest their food here and pass it down
from here into the belly. This in all species is
attached at its middle to the navel; in man at its
lower part it resembles the belly of a pig; the
Greeks call it the colon ; it is the seat of a great
cause of pain. - In dogs it is extremely narrow, and
for this reason they can only relieve it with a violent
effort and not without severe pain. The most
ravenous animals are those in whom the food passes

559

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

transeunt cibi, ut lupis cervariis et inter aves mergis.

203 ventres elephanto quattuor, cetera subus similia,
pulmo quadruple maior bubulo. avibus venter
carnosus callosusque. in ventre hirundinum pullis
lapilli candido aut rubenti colore, qui chelidonii
vocantur, magicis narrati artibus, reperiuntur. et in
iuvencarum secundo ventre pilae rotunditate nigri-
cans tophus, nullo pondere, singulare, ut putant,
remedium aegre parientibus si tellurem non attigerit,

204 LXXX. Ventriculus atque intestina pingui ac
tenui omento integuntur praeterquam ova gignenti-
bus. huic adnectitur lien in sinistra parte adversus
iecori, cum quo locum aliquando permutat, sed
prodigiose. quidam eum putant inesse ova parienti-
bus, item serpentibus admodum exiguum ; ita certe
apparet in testudine et crocodilo et lacertis et ranis,
aegocephalo avi non inesse constat, neque iis quae

205 careant sanguine, peculiare cursus inpedimentum
aliquando in eo, quamobrem minuitur cursorum
laborantibus. et per vulnus etiam exempto vivere
animalia tradunt. sunt qui putent adimi simul risum
homini intemperantiamque eius constare Herds
magnitudine. Asiae regio Scepsis appellatur in qua
minimos esse pecori tradunt, et inde ad lienem
invecta 1 remedia.

1 CMffl. : inventa.

0 Really five.

* Keally of hair that they have swallowed.
560

BOOK XL LXXIX. 202-Lxxx. 205

directly from the abdomen right down the gut ; this
is the case with lynxes, and among birds cormorants.
The elephant has four a abdomens , but its other parts
resemble those of pigs ; its lungs are four times as
large as those of an ox. Birds have a fleshy and
hard abdomen. In the abdomen of swallow chicks
there are found white or red coloured pebbles,
called swallow-stones ; there are accounts of these
in the treatises on magic. Also in the second
abdomen of heifers is found a round ball b of blackish
tufa that weighs nothing; this is thought to be a
sovereign remedy for difficulty in child-birth if it has
never been allowed to touch the ground.

LXXX. The abdomen and bowels except in the The spleen.
oviparous species are wrapped in a fat thin caul.
To this is attached the spleen on the left side opposite
the liver, with wfiich it occasionally changes place,
but this constitutes a portent. Some think that
oviparous species contain a spleen, and also snakes
a rather small one ; this undoubtedly appears to be
so in the case of the tortoise, the crocodile, lizards
and frogs. It is certain that the goat's-head bird
has not got a spleen, nor have the bloodless species.
Sometimes it causes a peculiar impediment in run-
ning, owing to which runners who have trouble have
an operation to reduce it. Also cases are reported
of animals living after it has been removed by an in-
cision. There are some who think that this operation
deprives a man of the power of laughing, and that
inability to control one's laughter is caused by
enlargement of the spleen. It is said that in a
district in Asia called Scepsis the cattle have ex-
tremely small spleens, and that remedies for the
spleen have been imported from there.

561

VOL. III. O 0

fLlNY; NATURAL

206 LXXXL Renes1 habent omnia quadripedum
quae animal generant, ova parientium testudo sola,
quae et alia omnia viscera, sed ut homo bubulis
similes velut e multis renibus compositos. at in
Brileto et Tharne quaterni renes cervis, contra
pinnatis squamosisque nulli. de cetero summis
adhaerent lumbis. dexter omnibus elatior et minus
pinguis sicciorque; utrique autem pinguitudo e
medio exit praeterquam in vitulo marino. animalia
in renibus pinguissima, oves quidem letaliter circum
eos concreto pingui. aliquando in iis inveniuntur
lapilli.

207 LXXXII. Pectus, hoc est ossa, praecordiis et
vitalibus natura circumdedit, at ventri, quern necesse
erat increscere, ademit; nulli animalium circa
ventrem ossa. pectus homini tantum latum, reliquis
carinatum, volucribus magis et inter eas aquaticis
maxime. costae homini octonae, subus denae,
cornigeris xm, serpentibus xxx.

208 LXXXIII. Infra alvum est a priore parte vesica,
quae nulli ova gignentium praeter testudinem, nulli
nisi sanguineum pulmonem habenti, nulli pedibus
carentium. inter earn et alvom arteriae ad pubem
tendentes quae ilia appellantur. in vesica hipi
lapillus qui syrites vocatur; sed in hominum qui-
busdam diro cruciatu subinde nascentes calculi et
saetarum capillamenta. vesica membrana constat
quae volnerata cicatrice non solidescit, nee qua

1 Renes . . . composites Me ? Mayhoff : infra post lapilli.

a This sentence belongs here, but in the MSS. it comes at
the end of the section.
6 This is not the case.

562

BOOK XI. LXXXI. 2o6-Lxxxni. 208

LXXXI. All viviparous quadrupeds a have kidneys. The kidneys.
but among oviparous ones only the tortoise, which
has all the other internal organs also, but, as with
man, its kidneys resemble those of the ox, and look
like a cluster of several kidneys. But at Briletum
and Tharne stags have four kidneys while the species
possessing feathers and scales have none.& For the
rest, they are attached to the top of the loins. In
all cases the right kidney is higher, and not so fat,
and drier; but with both the fat is discharged out
of the middle, except in the seal. Animals
accumulate fat most in the kidneys, sheep indeed
with fatal results, because the fat solidifies round
them. Occasionally stones are found in the kidneys.

LXXXII. Nature has surrounded the heart and The ribs.
the vital parts with the chest, a bony structure, but
has made it^stop at the abdomen which had to be
allowed room to increase in size; no animal has
bones round the abdomen. Man alone has a broad
chest; with all the other animals it is keel-shaped,
more so with birds, and among them most of all with
the aquatic species. Man has eight ribs, pigs ten,
horned animals thirteen and serpents thirty.

LXXXIII. Below the belly in front is the bladder,
which occurs in none of the oviparous kinds except
the tortoise, in none devoid of lungs filled with
blood, and in none without feet. Between the
bladder and the belly are the tubes called the groin,
stretching to the private parts. The bladder of the
wolf contains a stone named syrites ; but in some
human beings there continually form terribly painful
stones and bristly fibres. The bladder consists of a
membrane that when wounded does not form a solid
scar; it is not the same as the one that enfolds the

563

oo 2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cerebrum aut cor involvitur, plura enim membra-
narum genera.

209 LXXXIV. Feminis eadem omnia praeterque vesi-
cae iunctus utriculus, unde dictus uterus ; quod alio
nomine locos appellant, hoc in reliquis animalibus
volvam. haec viperae et intra se parientibus
duplex, ova generantium adnexa praecordiis; et in
muliere geminos sinus ab utraque parte laterum habet,

210 funebris quotiens versa spiritum inclusit. boves
gravidas negant praeterquam dextero vulvae sinu
ferre, etiam cum geminos ferant. vulva eiecto
partu melior quam edito ; eiecticia vocatur ilia, haec
porcaria. primiparae suis optima, contra effetis. a
partu, praeterquam eodem die suis occisae, livida

211 ac macra ; nee novellarum suum praeter primiparas
probatur, potiusque veterum, dum ne effetarum, nee
biduo ante partum aut post partum aut quo eiecerint
die, proxima ab eiecticia est occisae uno die post
partum; huius et sumen optimum, si modo fetus
non hauserit; eiecticiae deterrimum. antiqui ab-
domen vocabant priusquam calleret, incientes
occidere non adsueti.

212 LXXXV. Cornigera una parte dentata et quae in

564

BOOK XI. LXXXIII. 2o8-Lxxxv. 212

brain or the heart, as there are several kinds of
membrane.

LXXXIV. Women have all the same organs, and The female
in addition, joined to the bladder, a small sac, called organs'
from its shape the uterus or womb ; another name
for it is * the parts,' and in the rest of the animals it
is called the matrix. This in the viper and the vivi-
parous species is double ; in the oviparous ones it is
attached to the diaphragm; and in women it has
two recesses on either side of the flanks, and it causes
death whenever it is displaced and interferes with
the breathing. It is said that cows when pregnant
only carry in the right cavity of the womb, even
when carrying twins. Sow's paunch is a better dish
after a miscarriage than after a successful delivery;
in the former case it is called ' miscarryings ' and in
the latter ' farrowings/ That of a sow farrowing
for the first time is best, and the contrary with those
exhausted with breeding. After farrowing the
paunch is a bad colour and lacking in fat, unless the
sow was killed the same day ; nor is that of young
sows thought much of, except from those farrowing
for the first time, and the paunch of old sows is
preferable provided they are not quite worn out,
and not killed on the actual day of farrowing or the
day before or the day after. The paunch next
best to miscarryings is that of a sow slaughtered the
day after farrowing; also its paps are the best,
provided it has not yet suckled the litter ; the paps
of a sow that has had a miscarriage are the worst.
In old days people called it sow's abdomen before it
got hard, as they used not to slaughter sows when they
were with young.

LXXXV. Horned animals with teeth in one jaw varieties

J of fat.
565

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pedibus talos habent sebo pinguescunt, bisulca
scissisve in digitos pedibus et non cornigera adipe.
concretus hie et, cum refrixit, fragilis, semperque in
fine carnis, contra pingue inter carnem cutemque
suco liquidum. quaedam non pinguescunt, ut lepus,
perdix. steriliora cuncta pinguia et in maribus et
in feminis; senescunt quoque celerius praepinguia.

213 omnibus animalibus est quoddam in oculis pingue.
adips cunctis sine sensu, quia nee arterias habet nee
venas ; plerisque animalium et pinguitudo sine sensu,
quam ob causam sues spirantes a muribus tradunt
adrosos. quin et L. Aproni consularis viri filio
detractos adipes levatumque corpus inmobili onere.

214 LXXXVI. Et medulla ex eodem videtur esse, in
iuventa rubens et in senecta albescens. non nisi cavis
haec ossibus, nee cruribus iumentorum aut canum,
quare fracta non ' ferruminantur, quod defluente
evenit medulla, est aut em pinguis his quibus adips,
sebosa cornigeris, nervosa et in spina tantum dorsi
ossa non habentibus, ut piscium generi, ursis nulla,
leoni in feminum et bracchiorum ossibus paucis
exigua admodum, cetera sunt tanta duritia ut ignis

215 elidatur velut e siliee. LXXXVII. Et iis dura quae
566

BOOK XL LXXXV. 212-Lxxxvii. 215

and those that have pastern-bones in the feet put
on fat in the form of suet, but in those with cloven
hooves or feet divided into toes, and without horns,
it forms grease. This is of a solid substance and
when it has cooled off can be broken up, and it is
always where the flesh ends ; whereas fat is between
the flesh and the skin, and is moist and fluid. Some
animals, for instance the hare and the partridge, do
not grow fat. All fat animals are more liable to
barrenness, in the case of both males and females ;
also excessively fat ones get old more quickly. All
animals have some fat in the eyes. In all cases the
greasy fat has no sensation, because it does not possess
arteries or veins ; and in most animals also fatness of
condition causes insensitiveness, and it is recorded
that because of this pigs have been gnawed by mice
while still alive. It is also on record that the son of
the consular Lucius Apronius had his fat removed
by an operation and relieved his body of unmanage-
able weight.

LXXXVI. Marrow also appears to consist of the
same substance, being of a red cotour in youth and
turning white in old age. It is only found in hollow
bones, and there is none in the legs of oxen or dogs,
in consequence of which when they are fractured the
bone does not join again, this being caused by the
flow of marrow from a fracture. But the marrow
is fat in the animals that contain lard, suety in those
with horns, sinewy and only present in the spine
in those without bones, like the* fish kind ; and bears
have none, and the lion a rather small amount
in a few of the bones of the thighs, and forelegs,
while the other bones are so hard that fire can be
struck from them as from a flint, LXXXVII. Also

567

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

non pinguescunt; asinorum ad tibias canora. del-
phinis ossa, non spinae, animal enim pariunt, ser-
pentibus spinae. aquatilium mollibus nulla, sed
corpus circulis carnis vinctum, ut sepiae atque
loligini. et insectis negatur aeque esse ulla. cartila-
ginea aquatilium habent medullam in spina, vituli

216 marini cartilaginem, non ossa. Item omnium auri-
culae ac nares quae modo eminent flexili mollitia,
naturae providentia ne frangerentur. cartilago
rupta non solidescit, nee praecisa ossa recrescunt
praeterquam veterinis ab ungula ad suffraginem.
homo crescit x in longitudinem usque ad ter septenos
annos, turn deinde ad plenitudinem ; maxime autem
pubescens nodum quendam solvere, et praecipue
aegritudine, sentitur.

217 LXXXVIIL Nervi orsi a corde, bubuloque etiam
circumvoluti, similem naturam et causam habent, in
omnibus lubricis applicati ossibus, nodosque corpor-
um qui vocantiir articuli aliubi interventu, aliubi
ambitu, aliubi transitu ligantes, hie teretes, illic

218 lati ut in unoquoque poscit figuratio. nee hi soli-
dantur incisi,^ mirumque vulneratis summus dolor,
praesectis nullus. sine nervis sunt quaedam animalia
ut pisces, arteriis enim constant; sed neque his

1 crescit add. edd. «celeriter crescunt cetera aniinalia>,
homo? Mayhoff}.

0 I<e. molluscs, shell-fish.

568

BOOK XL LXXXVII. 215-Lxxxvni. 218

the animals that do not get fat have hard bones;
those of asses are resonant enough to use as flutes.
Dolphins being viviparous have bones and not spines,
but snakes have spines. Soft aquatic species have no
bones, but rings of flesh bound round the body, for
instance the two kinds of cuttle-fish. Insects also
are said to be equally devoid of bones. The gristly
aquatic species have marrow in the spine, and seals
have gristle, not bones. Similarly with all that have
ears and nostrils that just project these are soft and
flexible, nature thus insuring them against fracture.
When gristle is burst it does not join up, and when
bones are amputated they do not grow again, except
the bone between the hoof and the hock in beasts of
burden. Human beings grow taller to the age of
twenty-one and from then onward fill out ; but more
particularly at the period of puberty they are noticed
to get free from a sort of impediment to their growth,
and especially so in sickness.

LXXXVIII. The sinews starting from the heart, The sinews.
and in the ox actually wrapped round the heart,
have a similar nature and explanation, being in all
animals attached to the slippery bones and binding
together the links of the bodily frame called joints,
in some cases by coming between them, in others by
surrounding them and in others by passing from one
to another, being at one point rounded and at another
flattened as the conformation of the joint requires
in each case. The sinews also do not j oin again if cut,
and, what is surprising, though extremely painful if
wounded cause no pain at all if cut through. Some
animals, for instance fishes, have no sinews, as they
are held together by their arteries; although the
soft species a of the fish genus lack arteries as well.

569

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

molles piscium generis, ubi sunt nervi, interiores
conducunt membra, superiores revocant.

219 LXXXIX. Inter hos latent arteriae, id est spiritus
semitae; his innatant venae, id est sanguinis rivi.
arteriarum pulsus in cacumine maxime membrorum
evidens index fere morborum, in modules certos
legesque metricas per aetates — stabilis aut citatus
aut tardus— discriptus ab Herophilo medicinae vate
miranda arte ; nimiam propter suptilitatem desertus,
observatione tamen crebri aut languidi ictus guber-

220 nacula vitae temperat.1 arteriae carent sensu, nam
et sanguine, nee omnes vitalem continent spiritum ;
praecisisque torpescit tantum pars ea corporis. aves
nee venas nee arterias habent, item serpentes, testu-
dines, lacertae, minimumque sanguinis.

Venae in praetenues postremo fimbrias supter
totam cutem dispersae adeo in angustam suptilitatem
tenuantur ut penetrare sanguis non possit aliudve
quam excitus 2 umor ab illo cacuminibus innumeris
qui 3 sudor appellatur. venarum in umbilico nodus
ac coitus.

221 XC. Sanguis quibus multus et pinguis iracundi.
maribus quam feminis nigrior et iuventae quam
senio ; et inferiore parte pinguior. magna et in eo

1 v.L temperant : temperayit (sc. Herophilus) ?

2 Mayhoff : exitus aut exilis.

3 qui ante cacuminibus codd. : exilis umor ab . . . illo cac.
imram. <stillans)> qui, et alia edd. vet.

a Or possibly ' He ... ids ... he supplied ',

570

BOOK XI. LXXXVIII. 2i8-xc. 221

Where there are sinews, the inner ones contract the
limbs and the ones on the surface reverse the move-
ment.

LXXXIX. Between the sinews lie the arteries, The arteries
which are the passages for the breath, and onan(fm7W-
these float the veins, which are the channels for
the blood. The pulse of the arteries being parti-
cularly evident at the extremity of the limbs is
usually a sign of diseases; with remarkable scientific
skill it has been reduced by that high priest of
medicine, Herophilus, to definite rhythms and
metrical rules throughout the periods of Hfe — steady
or hurried or slow. This sign a has been neglected
because of its excessive subtlety, but yet really it a
supplies a a rule for the guidance of life by observation
of the pulse-beat, rapid or languid. The arteries
have no sensation, for they even are without blood,
nor do they all contain the breath of life ; and when
they are cut only the part of the body concerned is
paralysed. Birds have not got either veins or
arteries, nor yet have snakes, tortoises and lizards,
and they have only a very small amount of blood.

The veins spread underneath the whole skin, finally
ending in very thin threads, and they narrow down
into such an extremely minute size that the blood
cannot pass through them nor can anything else but
the moisture passing out from the blood in innumer-
able small drops which is called sweat. The junction
and meeting point of the veins is at the navel.

XC. Creatures whose blood is copious and thick The blood.
are hot-tempered. The blood of males is darker than
that of females, and that of youth than that of old
age ; and it is thicker in the lower part of the body.
The blood also contains a large proportion of vitality,

571

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vitalitatis portio, emissus spiritum secum trahit;
tactum tamen non sentit. animalium fortiora
quibus crassior sanguis, sapientiora quibus tenuior,

222 timidiora quibus minimus aut nullus. taurorum
celerrime coit atque durescit — ideo pestifer potu — ,
proxime l aprorum, at 2 cervorum caprearumque et
bubalorum omnino 3 non spissatur. pinguissimus
asinis, homini tenuissimus. iis quibus plus quaterni
pedes nullus. obesis minus copiosus, quoniam

223 absumitur pingui. profluvium eius uni fit in maribus
hominij aliis nare alterutra, aliis utraque, quibusdam
per inferna, multis per ora, stato tempore, ut nuper
Marcrino Visco praetorio viro et omnibus annis
Volusio Saturnino urbis praefecto, qui nonagen-
simum etiam excessit annum, solum hoc in corpore
temporarium sentit incrementum, siquidem hostiae
abundantiorem fundunt si prius bibere.

224 XCI. Quae animalium latere certis temporibus
diximus non habent tune sanguinem praeter exiguas
admodum circa corda guttas, miro opere naturae,
sicut in homine vim eius ad minima momenta mutari,
non somno 4 tantum minore materia suffusi verum
ad singulos animi habitus, pudore, ira, metu, palloris
pluribus modis, item ruboris : alius enim irae est 5

225 ah'us verecundiae. nam in metu refugere et nus-

1 v.l. maxime. 2 Mayhoff : ac.

3 Mayhoff: omnium. 4 Mayhoff ex Ar. : modo.
5 Detlefsen : et aut om.

9 VIII 122, IX 87.
572

BOOK XL xc. 221-xci. 225

and when shed it draws the breath with it ; but it has
no sense of touch. The animals with denser blood
are braver, those with thinner blood wiser, and those
with very little blood, or none at all, more timid.
The blood of bulls coagulates and hardens most
quickly (and consequently is noxious to drink);
that of boars next quickly, but that of stags and
goats and antelopes does not thicken at all. Asses
have the thickest blood and man the thinnest.
Species with more than four feet have no blood. Fat
animals have a smaller supply of blood, because it is
used up in the fat. In the human race alone a flux
of blood occurs in the males, in some cases at one of
the nostrils, in others at both, with some people
through the lower organs, with many through the
mouth; it may occur at a fixed period, as recently
with a man of praetorian rank named Macrinus
Viscus, and every year with the City Prefect Volusius
Saturninus, who actually lived to be over 90. This
alone of the bodily affections experiences an
occasional increase, inasmuch as sacrificial victims
bleed more copiously if they have previously
drunk.

XCI. Those animals which we have specified a as variations
going into hiding at fixed seasons have not any blood ^^iyltood"
at those periods except quite scanty drops in the
neighbourhood of the heart, by a marvellous con-
trivance of nature, just as in man she causes the blood-
supply to alter at the smallest impulses, the blood
not only being suffused with less matter by sleep but
at each separate state of mind, by shame, anger, and
fear, there being various ways of turning pale, and also
of blushing — as the blush of anger is different from
that of modesty. For it is certain that in fear the

573

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quam esse certum est, multisque non profluere
transfossis, quod homini tantum evenit. nam quae
mutate diximus colorem alienum accipiunt quodam
repercussu, homo solus in se mutat. morbi omnes
morsque sanguinem absumunt.

226 XCII. Sunt qui suptilitatem animi constare non
tenuitate sanguinis putent, sed cute operimentisque
corporum magis aut minus bruta esse, ut ostreas et
testudines; bourn terga, saetas suum obstare
tenuitati immeantis spiritus, nee purum liquidumque
tramitti; sic et in homine, cum crassior callosiorve
excludat cutis — ceu vero non crocodilis et duritia

227 tergoris tribuatur et sollertia. XCIII. hippopotami
corio crassitude talis ut inde tornentur hastae et
tamen quaedam ingenio medic a diligentia. elephan-
torum quoque tergora inpenetrabiles cetras praebent 1
(cum tamen omnium quadripedum suptilitas animi
praecipua perhibetur2 illis); ergo cutis ipsa sensu
caret, maxume in capite. ubicumque per se ac sine
carne est vomerata non coit, ut in bucca cilioque.

228 XCIV. Quae animal pariunt pilos habent, quae ova
pinnas aut squamas aut corticem ut testudines aut
cut em pur am ut serpentes, pinnarum caules om-
nium cavi ; praecisae non crescunt, evulsae renascun-
tur. membranis volant fragilibus insecta, umentibus

1 Racklmm : habent. 2 perhibeatur edd.

a VHI. 122, IX. 87. * See VIII. 96.

574

BOOK XL xci. 225-xciv. 228

blood retreats and is nowhere to be found, and that
many creatures do not shed blood when stabbed, which
happens only to a human being. For those which we
have spoken ofa as changing their colour really
assume the colour of some other object by a sort of
reflexion; only man actually changes colour in
himself. All diseases and death reduce the amount
of blood.

XCIL There are persons who think that subtlety Psycho-
of mind is not due to thinness of the blood, but that *******
animals are more or less brutish owing to their skin
and bodily coverings, as for instance molluscs and tor-
toises ; and that the hides of oxen and bristles of pigs
obstruct the thinness of the air when being inhaled,
and it is not transmitted pure and liquid ; so also in
man, when his skin being thicker or more callous
shuts it out — just as if crocodiles did not possess both
a hard hide and cunning. XCIII. The skin of the
hippopotamus is so thick that it is used for the points
of spears, and yet its mind possesses a certain medical
abifity.& The hides of elephants also supply im-
penetrable bucklers (though nevertheless they are
credited with the most outstanding mental subtlety
of all quadrupeds) ; and consequently their skin itself
is devoid of sensation, especially in the head. It
does not heal up when wounded in any place where
there is only skin and no flesh, as in the cheek and
eyelid.

XCIV. Viviparous species have bristles, bu.t ov*~ ?ri)2f J'
parous ones have feathers or scales, or shells *

tortoises, or bare skin like snakes. Feathers in all
cases have hollow stalks ; when cut off they do not
grow again, but when plucked out others grow in
their place. Insects use fragile membranes to fly

575

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

hirundines in mari, siccis inter tecta vespertiliones ;
horum1 alae quoque articulos habent.

229 Pili e cute exeunt crassa hirti, feminis tenuiores ;
quis in iuba largi, in armis leoni, dasypodi et in buccis
intus et sub pedibus; quae utraque Trogus et in
lepore tradidit, hoc exemplo libidinosiores esse 2
hominum quoque hirtos colligens: villosissimus

230 animalium lepus. pubescit homo solus, quod nisi
contigit, sterilis in gignendo est, seu masculus sen
femina. pili in homine partim simul partim postea
gignuntur; hi castratis non nascuntur, congeniti
autem non desinunt; sicut nee feminis magno
opere, inventae tamen quaedam defluvio capitis
invalidae, ut et lanugine oris, cum menstrui cursus
stetere. quibusdam post geniti3 viris sponte non
gignuntur. quadripedibus pilum cadere atque sub-

231 nasci annuum est. viris crescunt maxime in capillo,
mox in barba. recisi non ut herbae ac cetera ab
incisura augentur, sed ab radice exeunt, crescunt
et in quibusdam morbis, maxime phthisi, et in senecta,
defunctis quoque corporibus. libidinosis congeniti
maturius defluunt, agnati celerius crescunt. quad-
ripedibus senectute crassescunt lanaeque rarescunt.
quadripedum dorsa, pilosa, ventres glabri.

1 Mackham : vespertilio horum aut vespertilionum.

2 esse add. Rachham.

3 Barb, i genitis (post genituri sponte Mayhoff).

576

BOOK XL xciv. 228-231

with, flying-fish fly over the sea with damp mem-
branes and bats among houses with dry ones; the
wings of bats also have joints.

Shaggy hair grows out of a thick skin, whereas Hair.
women have finer hair; horses have abundant hair
in the mane, lions on the shoulders, rabbits on the
cheeks inside and also under the feet, hair in both places
being also recorded in the case of the hare by Trogus,
who infers from this example that among human
beings also the hairy ones are more licentious :
the hare is the shaggiest animal there is. Man
alone grows hair on the private parts, and if this does
not occur is sterile, this applying to both sexes.
Human beings have some hair at birth and grow some
later ; the latter does not grow with men who have
been castrated, though the hair they had at birth
does not fall off; just as women also do not much
lose their hair, although there have been cases of
women afflicted with baldness, and also with down
on the face, when menstruation has ceased. With
some men the hair that comes after birth does not
grow readily. Four-footed animals shed their hair
and grow it again every year. With men the hair
of the head grows fastest and next that of the beard.
When the hair is cut it does not grow again from the
incision, as plants and all other things do, but con-
tinues growing from the root. The hair grows longer
in some diseases, especially consumption, and in old
age too, and also on the bodies of the dead. Licen-
tious people loose the hair they had at birth earlier
and grow fresh hair more quickly. With four-footed
animals the hair gets thicker with age and the wool
thinner. Four-footed animals have shaggy backs
and bare bellies.

577

VOL. TIT. P P

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Bourn coriis glutinum excoquitur, taurorumque
praecipuum.

232 XCV. Mammas homo solus e maribus habet,
cetera animalia mammarum notas tantum. sed ne
feminae quidem in pectore nisi quae possunt partus
suos attollere. ova gignentium nulli ; nee lac l nisi
animal parienti. volucrum vespertilioni tantum;
fabulosum enim arbitror de strigibus ubera eas
infantium labris inmulgere. esse in maledictis iam
antiquis strigem convenit, sed quae sit avium con-
stare non arbitror.

233 Asinis a fetu dolent, ideo sexto mense arcent
partus, cum equae anno prope toto praebeant.
quibus solida ungula nee supra geminos fetus, haec
omnia binas habent mammas, nee aliubi quam in
feminibus. eodem loci bisulca et cornigera, boves
quaternas, oves et caprae binas; quae numeroso
fecunda partu et quibus digiti in pedibus, haec plures
habent et toto ventre duplici ordine, ut sues, generosae
duodenas, volgares binis minus ; similiter canes, alia
ventre medio quaternas, ut pantherae, alia binas,
ut leaenae. elephans tantum sub armis duas, nee
in pectore sed iuxta2 in alis occultas. nulli in

234 feminibus digitos habentium. primis genitis in

1 v.l, hie et infra lact.

2 an circa (vel iuxta) ? MayJioff : citra.

578

BOOK XL xciv. 231-xcv. 234

Boiling oxhide produces glue; bull's hide makes
the best.

XCV. Man is the only species in which the male
has teats ; with the rest of the animals there are only
the marks of teats. But with the females also only
those have teats on the breast that are able to lift
their offspring up to them. No oviparous species has
teats ; and only the viviparous have milk. Among
flying species only the bat has milk, as I think the
story about screech-owls, that they drop milk from
their teats into the mouths of babies, is a fabrication.
It is an ackowledged fact that even in old days the
screech-owl was one of the creatures under a curse,
but what particular bird is meant I believe to be
uncertain.

With asses the teats are painful after foaling, and
consequently they refuse to suckle their foals after
five months, whereas mares give suck almost a
whole year. Whole-hooved species that never have
more than two foals all have two dugs, and these
always between the thighs. Animals with cloven
feet and horns have the dugs in the same place,
cows having four and sheep and goats two. Those
that bear large litters and that have toes on the
feet have more dugs, and these in a double row the
whole length of the belly — for instance swine, of
which the good breeds have twelve dugs and the
common ones two less ; similarly with dogs. Some
species have four dugs in the middle of the belly,
for instance leopards, others two, for instance
lionesses. The elephant has only two dugs be-
neath the shoulders and tfot on the breast but close
to it, concealed under the shoulder-blades. None
of the species with toes have dugs beneath the thighs-

579

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quoque partu sues primas praebent, eae sunt
faucibus proximae, et suam quisque novit in fetu
quo genitus est ordine eaque alitur nee alia, de-
tracto ilia alumno suo sterilescit ilico ac resilit, uno
vero ex omni turba relicto sola munifex quae genito

235 fuerat adtributa dependet. ursae mammas quater-
nas gerunt. delphini binas in ima. alvo papillas
tantum, nee evidentes et paulum in oblicum por-
rectas; neque aliud animal in cursu lambitur. et
ballaenae autem vitulique marini 1 mammis nutriunt
fetus.

236 XCVL Mulieri ante septimum mensem profusum
lac inutile, ab eo mense, quo vitalis est 2 partus,
salubre. plerisque autem totis mammis atque
etiam alarum sinu fluit. cameli lac habent donee
iterum gravescant; suavissimum id existimatur ad
unam mensuram tribus aquae additis. bos ante
partum non habet ; et primo semper a partu colostrae
fiunt, ni admisceatur aqua in spumae3 modum

237 coeunte duritia. asinae praegnates continue lactes-
cunt. pullos earum, ubi pingue pabulum, biduo a
partu maternum lac gustasse letale est ; genus mali
vocatur colostratio. caseus non fit ex utrimque
dentatis, quoniam eorum lac non coit. tenuissimum
camelis, mox equis, crassissimum asinae, ut quo

238 coaguli vice utantur. conferre aliquid et candori

1 marini add. Dalec. 2 vtdg. vitales.

8 Detlefsen :• in pumicis.

a The MSS. give 'which harden into a sort of pumice-
stone.*
580

BOOK XI. xcv. 234-xcvi. 238

Sows give their first dugs to the pigs born first in
each litter, these being the dugs nearest to their
throats, and each pig in the litter knows its own dug
in the order in which it was born, and gets its food
from that one and not at another. If its nurseling
is taken away from it the dug at once goes dry and
shrivels up, whereas if one out of the whole litter is
left the dug that had been assigned to it at birth
alone hangs down and does service. She-bears carry
four dugs. Dolphins only have two nipples at the
bottom of the belly, which are not prominent and
project slightly sideways; and the dolphin is the
only animal that gives suck while in motion. But
whales and seals also suckle their young.

XCVL A woman's milk produced before the
seventh month is of no use, but from that month,
when the embryo is alive, it is healthy. With the
females of most species milk flows from the whole
of the dugs and even from the fold of the shoulder-
blades. Camels have milk until they are in foal
again ; camel's milk is thought to be most agreeable
if three parts of water are added to one of milk.
A cow does not have milk before calving ; and after
the first calving there are always biestings, which
condense into a sort of foam a unless water is mixed
with them. Asses in foal begin to give milk at once.
Where the pasture is rich it is fatal for their foals to
have tasted their mothers* milk in the two days after
birth; the name for the illness is biestings-fever.
Cheese is not made from species with teeth in feoth
jaws, as their milk does not curdle. Camel's milk
is the thinnest and mares5 milk the next thin;
asses' milk is thickest, so that it is used as a sub-
stitute for rennet. Asses' milk is actually thought

5*1

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in mulierum cute existimatur ; Poppaea certe Domiti
Neronis coniunx quingentas per omnia secum fetas
trahens balnearum etiam solio totum corpus illo
lacte macerabat, extend! quoque cutem credens.
onine autem igne spissatur, frigore serescit.1 bubu-
lum caseo fertilius quam caprinum, ex eadem mensura
paene altero tanto. quae plures quaternis mammas
habent caseo inutilia, et meliora quae binas.

239 Coagulum hinnulei,2 leporis, haedi laudatum,
praecipuum tamen dasypodis, quod et profluvio alvi
medetur, unius utrimque dentatorum. mirum bar-
baras gentes quae lacte vivant ignorare aut spernere
tot saeculis casei dotem, densantes id alioqui in
acorem iucundum et pingue butyrum, spuma id
est lactis 8 concretior lentiorque quam quod serum
vocatur; non omittendum in eo olei vim esse et
barbaros omnes infantesque nostros ita ungui.

240 XCVII. Laus caseo Romae, ubi omnium gentium
bona comminus iudicantur, e provinciis Nemausensi
praecipua, e4 Lesure Gabalicoque pagis ; sed brevis ac
musteo tantum commendatio. duobus Alpes generi-
bus pabula sua adprobant: Dalmaticae Docleatem

241 mittunt, Centronicae Vatusicum. numerosior Appen-
nino : Coebanum hie e Liguria mittit, ovium maxime

1 Hermolaus: umore fervescit. 2 v.L inutile.

8 vJ. lacte. 4 e add. RacJcham.

582

BOOK XI. xcvi. 238-xcvii. 241

to contribute something to the whiteness in women's
skin; at all events Domitius Nero's wife Poppaea
used to drag five hundred she-asses with foals about
with her everywhere and actually soaked her whole
body in a bath-tub with ass's milk, believing that
it also smoothed out wrinkles. All milk is made
thicker by fire and turned into whey by cold.
Cow's milk makes more cheese than goat's milk,
almost as much again from the same quantity.
Animals with more than four dugs are not serviceable
for cheese, and those with two are better.

The curds of the roebuck, hare, and goat are
praised, but that of the rabbit is the best, and is even
a cure for diarrhoea — the rabbit is the only animal
with teeth in both jaws that has this property. It
is remarkable that the foreign races that live on
milk for so many centuries have not known or have
despised the blessing of cheese, at most condensing
their milk into agreeable sour curds and fat butter.
Butter is a foam of milk of thicker and stickier sub-
stance than what is called whey ; it must be added
that it possesses the quality of oil and is used for
anointing by all foreigners and by ourselves in the
case of children.

XCVII. Of cheese from the provinces the most
highly praised at Borne, where the good things of
all nations are estimated at first hand, is that of
the district of Nmies, coining from the villages of La
Lozere and GeVaudan ; but it only wins approval for
a short time and when fresh. The Alps prove the
value of their pastures by two kinds of cheese : the
Dalmatian Mountains send the Docleate and the
Tarentaise the Vatusic. A larger number belong
to the Apennines; these send Coebanum cheese

583

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

e 1 lacte, Sarsinatem ex Umbria, mixtoque Etruriae
atque Liguriae confinio Luniensem magnitudine
conspicuum, quippe et ad singula mill a pondo pre-
mitur; proximum autem urbi Vestinum, eumque e
Caedicio campo laudatissimum. et caprarum gregi-
bus sua laus est, in recent! maxime augente gratiam
fumo, qualis in ipsa urbe conficitur cunctis praefer-
endus. nam Gallicarum2 sapor medicamenti vim
optinet. trans maria vero Bithynus fere in gloria est.

242 inesse pabulis salem, etiam ubi non videtur, ita
maxime intellegitur, omni in salem caseo senescente,
quales redire in musteum saporem aceto et thymo
maceratos certum est. tradunt Zoroastren in
desertis caseo vixisse annis xx ita temperate ut
vetustatem non sentiret.

243 XCVIII. Terrestrium solus homo bipes; nni
iugulum, umeri (ceteris armi), uni ulnae, quibus
animalium manus sunt, intus tantum carnosae, extra
nervis et cute constant.

244 XCIX. Digiti quibusdam in manibus seni. M.
Coranii ex patricia gente filias duas ob id Sedigitas
accipimus appellatas, et Volcatium Sedigitum inlus-
trem in poetica. hominis digiti ternos articulos
habent, pollex binos, et digitis adversus universis
flectitur, per se vero in oblicum porrigitur, crassior

1 add. Jan. 2 RacJcham : Galliarum.

584

BOOK XL xcvn. 241-xcix. 244

from Liguria, chiefly made of sheep's milk, Sarsina
cheese from Umbria, and Luni cheese from the
borderland of Tuscany and Liguria — this cheese
is remarkable for its size, in fact it is actually made
up to the weight of 1000 pounds the cheese; but
nearest to Rome is the Vestinian, and the kind from
the Caedician Plain is the most approved. Herds
of goats also have their special reputation for cheese,
in the case of fresh cheese especially when smoke
increases its flavour, as with the supremely desirable
cheese made in the city itself; for the cheese of the
Gallic goats always has a strong medicinal taste.
But of cheeses from over seas the Bithynian is quite
famous. That pastures contain salt, even where it
is not visible, is chiefly detected from the fact that
all cheese as it gets old turns saltish, just as cheeses
steeped in vinegar and thyme undoubtedly return
to their original fresh flavour. It is recorded that
Zoroaster in the desert lived for twenty years on
cheese that had been so treated as not to be affected
by age.

XCVIII. Man is the only land two-footed animal,
and the only one that has a throat, shoulders instead in man.
of forequarters like the others, and elbows. In
animals possessing hands, the hands only have
flesh inside, the outside consisting of sinews and skin.

XCIX. Some people have six fingers on each
hand. It has come down to us that the two daughters
of a man of patrician family named Marcus Coranius
were called the Miss Six-Fingers on this account,
and that Volcatius Sedigitus was distinguished IB
poetry. The human fingers have three joints and
the thumb two, and it bends in the opposite direction
to all the fingers, stretching out by itself on a slant,

s«s

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ceteris. huic minimus mensura par, ac duo reliqui
sibi, inter quos medius longissime protenditur.
quibus ex rapina victus quadripedum quini digit! in

245 prioribus pedibus, in reliquis quaterni. leones,
lupi, canes, panthera1 in posterioribus quoque
quinos unguis habent, uno iuxta cruris articulum
dependente; reliqua, quae sunt minora, et digitos
quinos.

Bracchia non omnibus paria secum ; Studioso Threci
in C. Caesaris ludo notum est dexteram fuisse pro-
ceriorem.

Animalium quaedam ut manibus utuntur priorum
mimsterio pedum sedentque ad os illis admoventia

246 cibos, ut sciuri. C. Nam simiarum genera perfectam.
hominis imitationem continent facie, naribus, auribus,
palpebris, quas solae quadripedum et in inferiore
habent gena, iam mammas in pectore et bracchia et
crura in contrarium similiter flexa, in manibus
unguesj digitos longioremque medium, pedibus
paulum difFerunt; sunt enim ut manus praelongae,
sed vestigium palmae simile faciunt. pollex quoque
iis et articuli ut homini ; ac praeter genitale, et hoc in
maribus tantum, viscera etiam interiora omnia ad
exemplar.

247 CI. Ungues clausulae nervorum summae existi-
mantur. omnibus hi quibus et digiti, sed simiae
imbricate, hominibus lati, (et defuncto crescunt),

3 Mayhoff ex Aristotele : canes et pauca.

586

BOOK XL xcix. 244-ci. 247

and it is thicker than the others. The thumb is
equal to the smallest finger in length, and two of the
rest are equal to one another, between them the
middle finger extending longest. The four-footed
animals that live by plunder have five toes on the
front feet and four on the others. Lions, wolves,
dogs and .the leopard have five claws on the hind
feet as well, with the one next the joint of the leg
hanging down ; the other species, which are smaller,
have five toes also.

Not all people's arms are a pair ; it is known that
a Thracian gladiator named Studiosus in Gaius Caesar's
training-school had his right arm longer than his left.

Some animals use the service of their front feet
as hands, and sit moving their food to their mouth
with them, for instance squirrels. C. In fact the Anthro-
monkey tribes have a perfect imitation of a human p°l ap€S'
being in their face, nostrils, ears and eyelashes — they
are the only four-footed animals with eyelashes — on
the lower lid as well, also paps on the breast, and
arms and legs bending similarly in opposite directions,
and nails on their hands, and fingers, and a longer
middle finger. They differ a little from human
beings in their feet, for these are very long like their
hands, but make a foot-print like the palm of a hand.
They also have a thumb and knuckles like a human
being ; and besides a genital organ, and this in the
males only, they also have all internal organs to
pattern.

1 CL It is believed that nails are the extremities Fingernails
at tfre end of sinews. All creatures have nails that nl*k.e~
also have fingers, but in the monkey they overlap
like tiles, whereas in man they are broad (and they
continue to grow after a man is dead); and they

PLINt: NATURAL HISTORY

rapacibus unci, ceteris recti, ut canibus, praeter eum
24=8 qiii a crure plerisque dependet. omnia digitos
habent quae pedes, excepto elephanto; huic enim
informes, numero quidem quinque, sed indivisi ac
leviter discreti, ungulisque, non unguibus, similes,
et pedes maiores priores, in posterioribus articuli
breves, idem poplites intus flectit hominis modo,
cetera animalia in diversum posterioribus pedibus
quam prioribus ; nam quae animal generant genua
ante se flectunt et suffraginum artus in aversum.

249 CIL Homini genua et cubita contraria ; item ursis
et simiarum generi, ob id minime pernicibus. ova
parientibus quadripedum, crocodile, lacertis, priora
genua post curvantur, posteriora in priorem parfcem,
sunt autem crura his obliqua humani pollicis 1 modo ;
sic et multipedibus praeterquam novissima salienti-
bus. aves ut quadripedes alas in priora curvant,
sufFraginem in posteriora.

250 CIII. Hominis genibus quaedam et religio inest
observatione gentium, haec supplices attingunt, ad
haec manus tendunt, haec ut aras adorant, fortassis
quia inest iis vitalitas. namque in ipsa genus
utriusque commissura, dextra laevaque, a priore
parte gemina quaedam buccarum inanitas inest, qua
perfossa ceu iugulo spiritus fluit. inest et aliis

BOOK XL ci. 247-cm. 250

are crooked in beasts of prey but straight in the
other animals, for instance dogs, excepting the nail
that in most species hangs downward from the leg.
All animals with feet have toes, except the elephant ;
for the elephant's toes are unshaped and though
five in number yet undivided and only slightly
separated, and resembling hooves, not nails, and the
fore feet are larger, the joints of the hind feet being
short, and also an elephant's knees bend inward
like a man's, whereas the other animals bend the
knees of the hind legs in the opposite direction to
those of the forelegs ; for viviparous animals bend
their knees in front of them and the joints of the
hocks backward.

CIL In man the knees and elbows bend in opposite
directions, and the same is the case with bears and
the monkey tribe, which are consequently not at
all swift. In the oviparous quadrupeds, the crocodile
and the lizards, the front knees curve backward and
the hind knees forward, but these species have legs
that bend like the human thumb ; and so also have
the multipedes, except the hindermost legs of the
species that jump. Birds curve their wings forward
like the front legs of quadrupeds but their thigh
backward.

CIIL The knees of a human being also possess
sort of religious sanctity in the usage of the nations,
Suppliants touch the knees and stretch out their °l
hands towards them and pray at them as at altars,
perhaps because they contain a certain vital principle.
For in the actual joint of each.knee, right and left,
on the front side there is a sort of twin hollow cavity,
the piercing of which, as of the throat, causes the
breath to flow away. There is a religious sanctity

5*9

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

partibus quaedam religio, sicut in dextera: osculis

251 aversa adpetitur, in fide porrigitur. antiquis Graeciae
in supplicando mentum attingere mos erat. est in
aure ima memoriae locus, quern tangent es antesta-
mur1; est post aurem aeque dexteram Nemeseos
(quae dea Latinum nomen ne in Capitolio quidem
invenit), quo referimus tactum ore proximum a
minimo digitum, veniam sermonis a dis ibi recon-
dentes.2

252 CIV. Varices in cruribus viro tantum, mulieri raro.
C. Afarium qui VII cos. fuit stanti sibi extrahi
passum unum hominum Oppius auctor est.

253 CV. Omnia animalia a dextris partibus iricedunt,
sinistris incubant. reliqua ut libitum est gradiun-
tur, leo tantum et camelus pedatim, hoc est ut
sinister pes non transeat dextrum sed subsequatur.
"pedes homini maximi; feminis tenuiores in omni
genere; surae homini tantum et crura carnosa.
reperitur apud auctor es quendam in Aegypto non
habuisse suras, vola homini tantum (exceptis

254 quibusdam : namque et hinc cognomina inventa
Planci, Plautij Pansae, Scauri, sicut a cruribus Vari,
Vatiae, Vatini5 quae vitia et in quadripedibus).
solidas habent ungulas quae non sunt cornigera:
'igitur pro his telum ungulae ictus est illis. nee

1 Lipsiiis : alttestamur. 2 v.l, a dis exposcentes.
59°

BOOK XL cm. 25o~cv. 254

belonging to other parts also, for instance in the
right hand : kisses are imprinted on the back of it,
and it is stretched out in giving a pledge. It was a
custom with the Greeks in early days to touch the
chin in entreaty. The memory is seated in the lobe
of the ear, the place that we touch in calling a person
to witness ; similarly behind the right ear is the seat
of Nemesis (a goddess that even on the Capitol has
not found a Latin name), and to it we apply the
third finger after touching our mouths, the mouth
being the place where we locate pardon from the
gods for our utterances.

CIV. Varicose veins in the legs occur only in a
man but rarely in a woman. Oppius records that
Gaius Marius who was seven times consul was the
only man who underwent an operation for the removal
of varicose veins without lying down.

CV. All animals start walking with the right
foot and lie down on the left side. Whereas the structure of
other animals walk as they like, only the lion and the {^.a
camel pace with one foot after the other, that is
with the left foot not passing but following the
right foot. Human beings have the largest feet;
the females of all species have more slender feet;
man alone has calves and legs that are fleshy. We
find it stated in the authorities that a certain person
in Egypt had no calves. Man alone has an arched
sole to the foot (with some exceptions— a deformity
that is the origin, of the surnames Flatfoot, Broadfoot,
Splayfoot, Swellfoot, just as from the le'gs come the
names Knock-knee, Bowleg, Bandyleg, deformities
that also occur in animals). Some animals' without
horns have solid hooves : consequently in place of
horns a kick of the hoof is their weapon. And the

591

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

talos habent eadem, at quae bisulca sunt habent.
iidem digitos habentibus non stint, neque in prioribus
omnino pedibus ulli. camelo tali similes bubulis
sed minores paulo; est enim bisulcus discrimine
exiguo pes, in vestigio carnosus ut ursi, qua de
causa in longiore itinere sine calciatu fatiscunt.

255 CVL Ungulae veterino tantum generi renascuntur.
sues in Illyrico quibusdam locis solidas habent
ungulas. cornigera fere bisulca. solida ungula et
bicorne nullum, unicorne asinus tantum Indicus,
unicorne et bisulcum oryx, talos asinus Indicus unus
solidipedum habet, nam sues ex utroque genere
existimantur, ideo foedi earum. hominem qui
existimarunt habere facile convicti. lynx tantum
digitos habentium simile quiddam talo habet, leo
etiamnum tortuosius. talus autem rectus est in
articulo pedis, ventre eminens concavo,1 in vertebra
ligatus.

256 CVII. Avium aliae digitatae, aliae palmipedes,
aliae inter utrumque divisis digitis adiecta latitudine ;
sed omnibus quaterni digiti, tres in priore parte,
unus a calce: hie deest quibusdam longa crura
habentibus; iynx sola utrimque binos habet.
eadem linguam serpentium similem in magnam
longitudinem porrigit, collum circumagit in aversam

1 concava citm seqq. iunctum edd.
592

BOOK XL cv. 254-cvn. 256

same animals have no pastern-bone, but those with
cloven hooves have one. Pastern-bones are also
lacking in animals having toes, and no animal has
them in the forefeet, The camel's pastern-bones
resemble those of the ox but are a little smaller ; for
the camel's foot is divided in two by a very small
cleft, and is fleshy at the tread like a bear's, for which
reason a camel's feet are liable to split on too long a
journey without shoeing.

CVI. Only with animals of the draught kind do the Hooves and

i_ • T i • T-M • . patterns.

hooves grow again. In some places in Illyna pigs
haVe solid hooves. Horned animals mostly have
cloven hooves. No species has both solid hooves
and two horns ; the only animal with one horn is the
rhinoceros, and the only one with one horn and
cloven hooves the antelope. The rhinoceros is the
only solid-hooved animal that has pastern-bones,
for pigs are thought to belong to both classes, and
consequently their pastern-bones are mis-shapen.
Persons who have thought that a human being has *
pastern-bones have been easily refuted. Of the
animals with toes only the lynx has something
resembling a pastern-bone, and the lion a still more
twisted one. But the true pastern-bone is at the
ankle-joint, projecting with a hollow bulge and
attached with a ligature onto the joint.

CVII. Some birds have toes, others are web- Birds' feet.
footed, and others intermediate, with separate toes
but also broad feet ; but all have four toes, three in
front and one at the heel — the latter however absent
in some long-legged species; the wry-neck alone
has two toes on either side of the foot. The same
bird has a tongue like a snake's which it stretches
out a long way, and it turns its neck round towards

593

VOL. III. Q Q

PLItfY: NATURAL HISTORY

257 se ; ungues ei grandes ceu graculis. avium quibus-
dam gravioribus in cruribus additi radii, null! uncos
habentium ungues. longipedes porrectis ad caudam
cruribus volant, quibus breves, contractis ad medium,
qui negant volucrem ullam sine pedibus esse con-
firmant et apodas habere breviores et drepanin,
quae x rarissime apparet. visae iam et serpentes
anserinis pedibus.

258 CVIII. Insectorum pedes primi longiores duros
habentibus oculos, ut subinde pedibus eos tergeant,
ceu notamus in muscis. quae ex his novissimos
habent longos saliunt, ut locustae. omnibus autem
his seni pedes. araneis quibusdam praelongi acce-
dunt bini. internodia singulis terna. octonos et
marinis esse diximus, polypis, sepiis, lolliginibus,
cancris, qui bracchia in contrarium movent, pedes in
orbem ant in oblicum; isdem solis animalium

259 rotundi. cetera binos pedes duces habent, cancri
tantum quaternos. quae hunc numerum pedum
excessere terrestria, ut plerique vermes, non infra
duodenos habent, aliqua vero et centenos. numerus
pedum impar nulli est.

260 Solidipedum crura statim iusta nascuntur mensura,
postea exporrigentia se verius quam crescentia,
itaque in mfantia scabunt aures posterioribus pedibus,
quod addita aetate non queunt, quia longitudo
superficiem corporum solam ampliat. hac de causa

1 habere, decent et drepanin, qiiare ex his Mueller (codd.
corruptissima).

594

BOOK XL cvn. 256-cvm. 260

its back; it has large claws like a jay's. Some
of the heavier birds, though none of those with
crooked talons, have spurs added on the legs. The
long-legged birds fly with their legs extended towards
their tail, but the short-legged ones draw them into
their middle. Those who say that there is no bird
without feet assert that black martins have specially
short feet, and also the Alpine swift, a bird that is
very rarely seen. Even snakes with the feet of geese
have been seen before now.

CVIII. The insects with hard eyes have the front insects'
feet longer, so that they may occasionally rub their ^"
eyes with their feet, as we observe in house-flies.
Insects with long hind feet leap, for instance tocusts.
But all these have six feet. Somea spiders have
twp very long feet in addition. Each -foot has two
joints. We have said 6 that some marine species
also have eight feet, octopuses, cuttle-fish of both
varieties, and crabs, which move their fore-feet in the
opposite direction to the others and then: hind-feet
in a circle or slantwise ; they are also the only animals
with feet of a rounded shape. All the other species
have two guiding feet, only crabs have four. Land
species that exceed this number of feet, as most
worms, have not less than twelve, and some as many
as a hundred. No kind has an odd number of feet.

In the species with solid feet the legs are of the Growth of
proper size at birth, afterwards more truly stretching hoovej>t
out than growing. Consequently in infancy ^hey
scratch their ears with their hind feet, which when
older they are unable to do, because length of time
increases the size of only the surface of their bodies.

0 All, as a matter of fact. J IX, 83.

595
QQ2

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

inter initia pasci nisi summissis genibus non possunt,
nee usque dum cervix ad iusta incrementa perveniat.
Pumilionum genus in omnibus animalibus est,
atque etiam inter volucres.

261 CIX. Genitalia maribus quibus essent retrorsa
diximus. ossea sunt lupis, vulpibus, mustelis,
viverris, unde etiam calculo humano remedia praeci-
pua. urso quoque simul atque expiraverit cornescere
aiunt. camelino arcus intendere orientis populis
fidissimum. nee non aliqua gentium quoque in
hoc discrimina et sacrorum etiam, citra perniciem

262 amputantibus Matris Deum Gallis. contra mulierum
paucis prodigiosa adsimilatio3 sicut hermaphroditis
utriusque sexus, quod etiam quadripedum generi
accidisse Neronis principatu primum arbitror : osten-
tabat certe hermaphroditas subiunctas carpento suo
equas, in Treverico Galliae agro repertas — ceu plane
visenda res esset principem terrarum insidere
portentis.

263 CX. Testes pecori armentoque ad crura decidui,
subus adnexi. delphino praelongi ultuma conduntur
alvo, et elephanto occulti. ova parientium lumbis
intus adhaerent, qualia ocissima in venere. piscibus
serpentibusque nulli, sed eorum vice binae ad

a X. 173.

BOOK XL cvm. 26o-cx. 263

For this reason at the early stages they can only feed
by bending their knees, and this goes on till their
neck reaches full growth.

There is a dwarf kind in all species of animals, and
even among birds.

CIX. We have already specified a the species
which the males have genital organs behind them. org<XM'
These organs are bony in wolves, foxes, weasels and
ferrets, which also furnish sovereign remedies for
stone in man. In the bear too it is said, these organs
become horny as soon as the animal dies. The
eastern peoples think that this organ in the camel
makes a most reliable bowstring. There are also cer-
tain racial distinctions in connexion with it, and even
varieties of ritual, the Galli, priests of the Mother of
the Gods, practising amputation within the limits of
injury. On the other hand in a few women there is
a curious resemblance to the male organ, as there is in
hermaphrodites of either sex, a thing that I believe
first occurred with the class of quadrupeds also in the
principate of Nero : at all events Nero used to show
off a team of hermaphrodite mares, that he had found
in the Trier district in Gaul, harnessed to his chariot,
apparently deeming it a very remarkable spectacle
to see the Emperor of the World riding in a miraculous
carriage.

CX. The testicles in sheep and oxen hang down The
against the legs, but in pigs they are closely knit to te5ttcle*f
the body. In the dolphin they are very long, and
stowed away in the lower part of the belly, and in the
elephant also they are concealed. In oviparous
creatures they are attached to the loins on the inside,
these animals being very rapid in copulation. Fishes
and snakes have no testicles, but instead of them

597

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

genitalia a renibus venae, buteonibus terni. homini
tantum iniuria aut sponte naturae franguntur, idque
tertium ab hermaphroditis et spadonibus semiviri
genus habent. mares in omni genere fortiores
sunt praeterquam pantheris et ursis.

264 CXI. Caudae praeter hominem ac simias omnibus
fere et animal et ova gignentibus pro desiderio
corporum, nudae hirtis, ut apris, parvae villosis, ut
ursis 9 praelongae saetosis, ut equis. amputatae
lacertis et serpentibus renascuntur. piscium meatus
gubernaculi modo regunt, atque etiam in dexteram
ac laevam motae ut remigio quodam impellunt.

265 lacertis inveniuntur et geminae. bourn caudis
longissimus caulis atque in ima parte hirtus; idem
asinis longior quam equis, sed saetosus veterinis.
leoni in prima parte ut bubus et soricibus,1 pantheris
non item ; vulpibus et lupis villosus ut ovibus, quibus
procerior. sues intorquent, canum degeneres sub
alvom reflectunt.

266 CXIL Vocem non habere nisi quae pulmonem et
arteriam 2 habeant, hoc est nisi quae spirent, Aristo-
teles putat; idcirco et insectis sonum esse, non
vocem, intus inmeante spiritu et incluso sonant e,
ah* a murmur edere, ut apes, alia contractum 3 stri-
dorem, ut cicadas, receptum enim duobus sub
pectore cavis spiritum, mobili occursante membrana

1 RacTcham : sorici.

2 Mayhoff: arterias.

3 Mayhoff (contractu Detlefsen) : cum tractu.

0 I.e. ante-natal disease.

* The sounds referred to are really caused by the wings
vibrating. &

•598

BOOK XI. ex. 263-0x11. 266

two passages from the kidneys to the genitals.
Buzzards have three. In man only they may be
crushed owing to an injury or from natural causes, a
and this forms a third class, in distinction from
hermaphrodites and eunuchs, the impotent. In
every species except leopards and bears the mares
are the stronger.

CXI. Almost all species except man and monkeys,
both the viviparous and the oviparous, have tails
corresponding to the requirements of their bodies,
bare with the hairy species, like boars, small with the
shaggy ones, like bears, very long with the bristly,
like horses. With lizards and snakes when cut off
they grow again. The tails of fishes steer their
winding courses after the manner of a rudder,
and even serve to propel them like a sort of oar by
being moved to the right and left. Actual cases of
two tails are found in lizards. Oxen's tails have a
very long stem, with a tuft at the end, and in asses
it is longer than in horses, but it is bristly in beasts
of burden. A lion's tail is shaggy at the end, as with
oxen and shrew-mice, but not so with leopards;
foxes and wolves have a hairy tail, as have sheep,
with which it is longer. Pigs curl the tail, dogs of
low breeds keep it between their legs.

CXII. Aristotle thinks that only animals with The voice.
lungs and windpipe, that is those that breathe,
possess a voice ; and that consequently even insects
make a sound,6 but have not a voice, the breath
passing inside them and making a sound when shut
up there, and that some, as bees, give out a buzz,
others, as grasshoppers, a brief hiss, because the
breath is received in two hollows under the chest and
encountering a movable membrane inside makes

599

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

intus, attritu eius sonare. muscas, apes, cetera
similia cum volatu et incipere audiri et desinere,
sonum enitn attritu et interiore aura, non anima,
reddi ; locustas pinnarum et feminum attritu sonare.

267 creditur sane item aquatilium pectines stridere cum
volant, mollia et crusta intecta nee vocem nee sonum
ullum habere. sed ceteri pisces, quamvis pulmone
et arteria careant, non in totum sine ullo sono sunt —
stridorem eum dentibus fieri cavillantur — et is
qui aper1 vocatur in Acheloo amne grunnitum habet,
et alii de quibus diximus. ova parientibus sibilus,
serpentibus longus, testudinibus 2 abruptus. ranis
sui generis vox,3 ut dictum est — nisi si et in his
ferenda dubitatio est, quia vox in ore concipitur,
non in pectore. multum tamen in his refert et
locorum natura: mutae in Macedonia traduntur,

268 muti et apri. avium loquaciores quae minores et
circa coitus maxume. aliis in pugna vox, ut coturni-
cibus, aliis ante pugnam, ut perdicibus, aliis cum
vicere, ut gallinaceis. iisdem sua maribus, aliis
eadem et feminis, ut lusciniarum generi. quaedam
toto anno canunt, quaedam certis temporibus, ut

269 in singulis dictum est. elephans citra nares ore
ipso sternumento similem elidit sonum, per nares

1 RacTcham ex Ar. Hist. An. 535 b 18 : caper.

2 RacWiam : testudini.

3 vox add ? Mayhoff.

1 Perhaps one of the blennies, ft IX. 70.
6 XL 172.

600

BOOK XI. cxn. 266-269

a sound by rubbing against it. He thinks that flies,
bees and other similar creatures begin and cease to
give an audible sound when they begin and cease to
By, as the sound is caused by friction and by the air
inside them, not by breathing ; and that locusts make
a sound by rubbing their wings against their thighs.
It is indeed believed that among aquatic creatures
scallops similarly make a rushing sound when they
fly, but that shell-fish and crustaceans have no voice
nor sound of any kind. But the other fishes, although
they lack lungs and windpipe, are not entirely devoid
of any sound at all — people advance the quibble that
their hiss is made with the teeth — and the fish in the
river Achelous called the boar-fish a has a grunt, and
so have others about which we have spoken.6 Ovi-
parous species have a hiss — snakes a long one, tor-
toises an abrupt one. Frogs have a special kind of
voice, as has been said,0 unless in their case also we
are to allow some uncertainty, because * voice '
means a sound formed in the mouth, not in the chest.
Still in the case of frogs the nature of the localities
also makes a great deal of difference : the frogs in
Macedonia are reported to be dumb, and also the
boars. Among birds the smaller ones are more
talkative, and particularly at the mating season.
Some birds, e.g. quails, give a cry when fighting, others,
e.g. partridges, before a fight, others, e.g. domestic
fowls, when they have won. With the latter the
cocks have a crow of their own, but with other birds,
fbr instance the nightingale class, the hens also have
the same note. Some birds sing all the year, some
at certain seasons, as has been said in dealing with the
species separately. Thexelephant squeezes out a
sound like a SRee#e from its actual mouth, not through

601

PLINY: NATURAL HISTOEY

autem tubarum raucitati. bubus tantum feminis
vox gravior, in alio omni genere exilior quam mari-

270 bus, in homine etiam castratis. infantis in nas-
cendo nulla auditur ante quam totus emergat utero.
primus sermo anniculo; set semenstris locutus est
Croesi filius et in crepundiis prodigio quo totum id
concidit regnum. qui celerius fari ceopere tardius
ingredi incipiunt. vox roboratur a xrv annis, eadem
in senecta exilior; neque in alio animalium saepius
mutatur.

Mir a praeterea sunt de voce digna dictu ; theatro-
rum in orchestris scobe aut harena superiacta devora-
tur, item 1 in rudi parietum circumiectu, doliis etiam
inanibus. currit eadem recto vel conchato parietum
spatio, quamvis levi sono dicta verba ad alterum
caput perferens, si nulla inaequalitas impediat.

271 vox in homine magnam voltus habet partem :
adgnoscimus ea prius quam cernamus non aliter
quam oculis; totidemque sunt hae quot in rerum
natura mortales, et sua cuique sicutfa cies. hinc ilia
tot2 gentium totque linguarum toto orbe diversitas,
hinc tot cantus et moduli flexionesque, sed ante omnia
explanatio animi quae nos distinxit a feris, et inter

1 Mayhoff : et. 2 tot add. Eaclcham.

a At Borne senators sat here.
602

BOOK XL cxn. 269-271

the nostrils, but through the nostrils it emits a harsh
trumpet sound. In oxen alone the lowing of the
females is louder, but in every other kind of animal
the females' voice is not so loud as that of the males,
even (in the case of the human race) those that have
been castrated. The infant gives no sound at birth
until it emerges entirely from the womb. It begins
to talk when a year old ; but Croesus had a son who
spoke at six months and while still at the rattle stage,
a portent that brought the whole of that realm to
downfall. Infants that began to speak quicker are
slower in starting to walk. The voice gets stronger
at fourteen, but it gets weaker in old age ; and it
does not alter more often in any other animal.

There are other facts besides about the voice that 4WW.«-..
deserve mention. It is absorbed by the sawdust or
sand that is thrown down on the floor ift the theatre
orchestras,0 and similarly in a place surrounded by
rough walls, and it is also deadened by empty
casks. Also it runs along a straight or concave
surface of wall and carries words although spoken
in a low tone to the other end, if no unevenness of
the surface hinders it. In a human being the voice character
constitutes a large part of the external personality: °fvoices-
we recognise a man by it before we see him just in
the same way as we recognise him with our eyes;
and there are as many varieties of voices as there are
mortals in the world, and a person's voice is as dis-
tinctive as his face. This is the source of the dif-
ference between all the races and all the languages
all over the world, and of all the tunes and modulations
and inflexions, but before all things of the power of
'expressing the thoughts that has made us different
from the beasts, arid has also caused another dis-

€03

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Ipsos quoque homines discrimen alterum aeque
grande quam a beluis fecit.

272 CXIII. Membra animalibus agnata inutilia sunt,
sicut sextus homini semper digitus. placuit in
Aegypto nutrire portentum, birds et in aversa capitis
parte oculis hominem, sed iis non cernentem.

273 CXIV. Miror equidem Aristotelem non modo
credidisse praescita vitae esse aliqua in corporibus
ipsis verum etiam prodidisse. quae quamquam vana
existimo, nee sine cunctatione proferenda ne in se
quisque ea auguria anxie quaerat, attingam tamen,

274 quia tantus vir in doctrinis non sprevit. igitur
vitae brevis signa ponit raros dentes, praelongos
digitos, plumbeum colorem pluresque in manu
incisuras nee perpetuas; contra longae esse vitae
incurvos umeris et in manu unam aut duas incisuras
longas habentis et plures quam xxxn dentes,
auribus amplis. nee unirersa haec, ut arbitror, sed
singula observat, frivola, ut reor, et volgo tamen
narrata. addidit morum quoque spectus simili modo
apud nos Trogus et ipse auctor e severissimis, quos

275 verbis eius subiciam : ' Frons ubi est magna segnem
aniraum subesse significat, quibus parva mobilem,
604

BOOK XL cxn. 271-cxiv. 275

tinction between human beings themselves that is as
wide as that which separates them from the lower
animals.

CXIII. When animals are born with extra
these are useless, as is always the case when a human
being is born with a sixth finger. In Egypt it was
decided to rear a monstrosity, a human being with
another pair of eyes at the back of the head, though
he could not see with these.

CXIV. For my own part I am surprised
Aristotle not only believed but also published his belief /r
that our bodies contain premonitory signs of our career.
But although I think this view unfounded, and not t*w.
proper to be brought forward without hesitation
lest everybody should anxiously seek to find these
auguries in himself, nevertheless I will touch upon it,
because so great a master of the sciences as Aristotle
has not despised it. Well then, he puts down as signs
of a short Hfe few teeth, very long fingers, a leaden
complexion and an exceptional number of broken
creases in the hand ; and on the other side he says
that those people are long-lived who have sloping
shoulders, one or two long creases in the hand, more
than thirty-two teeth, and large ears. Yet he does
not, I imagine, note all these attributes present in
one person, but separately, trifling things, as I
consider them, though nevertheless commonly
talked about. In a similar manner among our-
selves Trogus, himself also one of the most critical
authorities, has added some outward signs of char-
acter which I will append in his own words : ' When
the forehead is large it indicates that the mind
beneath it is sluggish; people with a small fore-
head have a nimble mind, those with a round fore-

605

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quibus rotunda iracundum ' — velut hoc vestigio
tumoris apparente. ' supercilia quibus porriguntur
in rectum molles significant, quibus iuxta nasum
flexa sunt austeros, quibus iuxta tempora inflexa
derisores, quibus in totum demissa malivolos et

276 invidos. oculi quibus utrimque 1 sunt longi malificos
moribus esse indicant; qui carnosos a naribus
angulos habent malitiae notam praebent; Candida
pars extenta notam inpudentiae habet : qui identi-
dem operiri solent inconstantiae. oricularum magni-
tudo loquacitatis et stultitiae nota est,' hactenus
Trogus.

277 CXV. Animae leonis virus grave, ursi pestilens :
contacta halitu eius nulla fera attingit, ociusque
putrescunt adflata. e reliquis 2 hominis 3 tantum
infici natura voluit plurimis modis, et ciborum ac
dentium vitiis sed maxime senio. dolorem sentire
non potest,4 tactu esuque 5 omni caret 6 sine quibus 7
nihil sentitur ; eadem commeat ab eo 8 recedens 9

278 assidue, exitura supremo et sola ex homine superfu-
tura denique. haec trahebatur e caelo : huius quo-
que tamen reperta poena est, ut neque id ipsum
quo vivitur in vita iuvaret. Parthorum populis haec
praecipue et a iuventa propter indiscretos cibos,
namque et vino fetent ora nimio. sed sibi proceres

1 MayJioff ex Aristotele : quibuscunque.

2 sic Mueller : adflatae (adflatu Caesanus] reliquis.

3 v.l. homini. 4 Dalec. : poterat.
5 v.L sensuqne, 6 Dalec. : carebat,
7 v.l. sine qiia. 8 v.L commeabat.
9 v.L recens.

a This clause seems to be a comment of PJiny's.
606

BOOK XI. cxiv. 275-cxv. 278

head an irascible mind' — as if this were a visible
indication of a swollen temper ! a ' When people's
eyebrows are level this signifies that they are
gentle, when they are curved at the side of the
nose, that they are stern, when bent down at the
temples, that they are mockers, when entirely
drooping, that they are malevolent and spiteful.
If people's eyes are narrow on both sides, this shows
them to be malicious in character; eyes that have
fleshy corners on the side of the nostrils show a
mark of maliciousness ; when the white part of the
eyes is extensive it conveys an indication of impu-
dence ; eyes that have a habit of repeatedly closing
indicate unreliability. Large ears are a sign of
talkativeness and silliness/ Thus far Trogus.

CXV. The lion's breath contains a severe poison
and the bear's is pestilential: no wild animal will
touch things that have come in contact with its
vapour, and things that it has breathed upon go bad
more quickly. Of the remaining species nature has
willed that in man alone the breath shall be corrupted
in a great many ways, even by bad food and bad teeth,'
but most of all by old age. The old man cannot feel
pain, he lacks all touch and taste, without which ther^
is no sensation at all; his breath comes and goel?
constantly retiring from him, ultimately to depaft
from him and thereafter to be all that remains out $f
a human being. The breath was a draught draWh
from heaven ; yet for it also a penalty has been in-
vented, so that even that which is the very mean$ of
living may not give us joy in life. This applies, s$|ci-
ajly to the Parthian races, even from youth uj), De-
cause of their lack of discrimination in diet, for $Ven
their mouths smell from too much wine. But their

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

medentur grano Assyrii mail, cuius est sua vitas
praecipua, in esculenta addito.

279 Elephantorum anima serpentes extrahit, cervorum
urit.- diximus hominum genera qui venena serpen-
tium suctu corporibus eximerent. quin et subus
serpentes in pabulo sunt, et aliis 1 venenum est.
quae insecta appellavimus, omnia olei aspersu
necantur, vultures unguent o (qui fugat alios appetunt
odorem), scarabaei rosa, quasdam serpentes scorpio
occidit. Scythae sagittas tingunt viperina sanie et
humane sanguine ; inremediabile id scelus : mortem
ilico affert levi tactu.

280 CXVL Quae animalium pascerentur veneno dixi-
mus. quaedam innocua alioqui venenatis pasta
noxia fiunt et ipsa. apros in Pamphylia et Ciliciae
montuosis salamandra ab his devorata qui edere
moriuntur, neque enim est intellectus ullus in odore
vel sapore ; et aqua vinumque interimit2 salamandra
ibi inmortua, vel si omnino unde biberit 3 potetur ;
item rana quam rubetam vocant : tantum

281 insidiarum est vitae ! vespae serpente avide ves-
cuntur, quo alimento mortiferos ictus faciunt.
adeoque magna differentia est victus ut in tractu
pisce viventium Theophrastus prodat boves quoque
pisce vesci, sed non nisi vivente.

282 CXVII. Homini cibus utilissimus simplex, acer-
vatio saporum pestifera et condimento perniciosior.

1 et aliis corruptum : nee alvo ? Mayhoff.
2 v.l. intereroit. 8 Dalec. : biberit unde.

a VII. 13 sq.

6 Perhaps the text should be altered to give ' and to their
stomach it is not poisonous.'
«

608

BOOK XL cxv. 278-cxvn. 282

upper classes use as a remedy the seed of the citron-
tree, which has a remarkably sweet aroma, adding
it to their food.

The breath of elephants attracts snakes out of Poisons.
their holes, that of stags scorches them. We have
mentioned a the races of men that rid their bodies of
snakes' poison by sucking it out. Moreover swine
will eat snakes, and to other animals it is poison.6
The creatures we have designated insects can all be
killed by sprinkling with oil ; vultures* are killed by
ointment (they are attracted by the scent, which
repels other birds), and beetles by a rose. A
scorpion kills some snakes. In Scythia the natives
poison their arrows with vipers' venom and human
blood; this nefarious practice makes a wound
incurable — by a light touch it causes instant death.

CXVI. We have saidc which animals feed on poison. 2v»w-
Some otherwise harmless species after feeding on^iSn?°
poisonous things become harmful themselves also.
In Pamphylia and the mountain regions of Cilicia
people who eat boars when these have devoured a
salamander die, for there is no indication in the smell
or taste ; also water or wine when a salamander has
died in it is fatal, and so is even drinking from a
vessel out of which one has drunk ; and similarly with
the kind of frog called a toad ! so full of traps is
life! Wasps devour a snake greedily, and by so
doing make their sting fatal. And so widely does
diet vary that according to Theophrastus in a district
where people live on fish the cattle also eat fish, but
only live fish.

CXVII. Simple food is the' most serviceable for a Gastronomy.
human being — an accumulation of flavours is un-
wholesome, and more harmful than sauces. But it is

609

VOL. III. R R

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

difficulter autem perficiuntur omnia in cibis acria,
aspera, inconsueta, varia, nimia et avide hausta, et
aestate quam hieme difficilius, et in senecta quam
iuventa, vomitiones homini ad haec in remedium
excogitatae frigidiora corpora faciunt, inimicae oculis
maxime ac dentibus.

283 Somno concoquere corpulentiae quam firmitati
utilius; ideo athletas ambulatione malunt cibos
perficere: pervigilio quidem praecipue vincnntur
cibi. CXVIII. augescunt corpora dulcibus atque
pinguibus et potis, minuuntur siccis et aridis frigidis-
que ac siti. quaedam animalia et pecudes quoque
in Africa quarto die bibunt. homini non utique
septimo letalis media; durasse et ultra undecimum
plerosque certum est. morbus esuriendi semper
inexplebili aviditate uni animalium homini.

284 CXIX. Quaedam rursus exiguo gustu famem ac
vitim sedant conservantque vires, ut batyrum,
hippace, glycyrrhiza. perniciosissimum autem et
in omni quidem vita quod nimium, praecipue
tamen corpori, minimeque quod gravet quolibet
modo utilius.

Verum ad reliqua naturae trans eamus.

0 It must be remembered that ^ the Latin id ,

would be called ' the fourth day ' after Sunday, Monday being
secundus, ' the following day,* and Tuesday tertius.

610

BOOK XL cxvii. 282-cxix. 284

difficult completely to digest all the components
contained in articles of food, all that is sharp or rough
or unusual or varied, or excessive in quantity and
swallowed greedily ; and it is more difficult in summer
than in winter, and in old age than in youth. The
emetics that have been devised for digestive troubles
have a chilling effect on the body, and are extremely
bad for the eyes and the teeth.

To digest one's food while asleep is more con- Digestion.
ducive to corpulence than to strength, and conse- ^finence
quently it is thought preferable for men in training moderation.
to assist their digestion by taking a walk; at all
events food is most thoroughly assimilated while
keeping awake. CXVIII. Sweet and fat foods and
drinking add bulk, whereas dry and lean and cold
foods and thirst reduce it. Some animals and also
domestic cattle in Africa only drink once in three a
days. Starvation is not fatal to a human being
after even five days ; it is certain that a good many
people have actually endured it more than ten days.
Man is the only animal liable to the disease of a
continuously insatiable appetite.

• CXIX. Again some things tasted in a very small
quantity allay hunger and thirst and conserve the
strength, for instance butter, mare's milk cheese,
liquorice root. But anything in excess is exceedingly
detrimental, even in all departments of life, but par-
ticularly to the body, and it pays better to reduce
the quantity of what is in any manner burdensome.

But let us pass on to the remaining branches of
Natural Science.

6n

INDEX

PERSONS

A few biographical details are given to supplement those in the text

Achilles, X 78

Actaeon, changed into a stag by

Diana, XI 123
Aelius Stilo, grammarian, taught

Varro and Cicero, IX 123
Aelius Tubero, praetor 123 B.C., X

41

Aeschylus, X 7, 86
Aesopus, IX 122, X 141
Agrippina, X 84
Alcman, 7th c. B.C., XI 114
Alexander, VIII 44, 54, 119. 149, 154,

IX 5, 26, X 185
Alexander Polyhistor, Greek scholar

at Borne temp. Sulla, IX 113
Andromeda, IX 11.
Anthus, VIII 81
Antiochus I, k. of Syria 223 B.C.,

VIII 12

Antipater, zoologist of Tarsus, VIII 11
Antoma, d. of triumvir, m. of Ger-

manicus and Tiberius, IX 172
Antonius, 0., cos. 63 B.C. VIII 213
Antonius, M., VIII 55, IX 119, 123
Apicius, celebrated epicure temp.

Tiberius, IX 66
Apis, VIII 184
Apollodorus (perhaps the naturalist

mentioned, I 11), XI 87
Archelaus (cited from Varro R.R. 2.

3. 5, 3. 12. 4), VIII 202, 218
Arion, IX 28
Aristomenes, Messenian hero of second

war with Sparta, 7th c. B.O., X 185
Aristophanes, Alexandrian scholar,

3rd c. B.C., VIII 13
Aristoteles, VIII 28, 44, 105, IX 16,

78, 79, X 32, 120, 185, XI 273
Asachaei, VIII 35

Asinius Oeler, IX 67

Attalus, k, of Pergamum 247-197 B.C.,

VIII 196
Aufldius, G-naeus, tr. pi. 170 B.C.,

VIII 64

Aufidius Lurco, tr. pi. 61 B.C., X 45
Augustus, VIII 64, 218, XI 143, 190
Axius, L., X 110

Bocchus, k. of Mauretania c. 104 B.C.,

VIII 15.
Boeus, X 7
Brocchi, XI 157
Bucephalus, VIII 154

Oaecilia G-aia, wife of k. Tarqumius

Priscus, VIII 194
Oaecina, writer on augury (NM. I 2),

XI 197

Oaelius, VIII 144
Oaesar, J., VIII 20, 69, 161, 182, XI

186

Oapillati, XI 130
Oarbo, Papirlus, cos. Ill 113 B.C.,

VIII 221

Oarvilius Pollio, ecu B., IX 39
Oascellms. jurist, temp. Cicero, VIII

144

Oato, VIII 11, 186, 201
Ohelonophagi, IX 38
Oimbri, VIII 142
Oippus, praetor, suddenly grew horns

(Or. Met. XV 565), XI 123
Claudius, VIII 22, IX 14, X 171, XI

143, 189

Cleopatra, IX 119
Clitarchus, author temp. Alexander,

X136
Olodius, IX 122

613

INDEX

Ooclites, XI 150

Ooranus, XI 244

Cornelius Oelsus, author of De Medi-
ctna, temp. Augustus and Tiberius.
IX 61, 137

Cornelius Nepos, author, friend of
Oicero, IX 61, 137

Cornelius Valenanus, X 5

Oorancanius, cos. 280 B.C., VIH 144

Oosmgis, VIII 144

Oraterus, X 124

Cremutms Cordus, historian temp.
Augustus and Tiberius, X 74

Croesus, X 270

Gtesias of Omdus,^. 400 B a, VIII 75

Curius Dentatus, cos. 290 B.O., de-
feated Samrutes, IX 118

Oynamolgi, VIII 104

Cytheris, VIII 55

Dardae, XI 111

Decunus Brutus, beseiged by Antony

in Mutina 44 B.C., X 110
Demaenetus, VIII 82
Demetrius, Vlfl 59
Democritus of Abdera, philosopher,

&. 460 B.C., VIII 61, X 137
Dinon, X 136

Diomedes, Homeric warrior, X 127
Domitms Ahenobarbus, aedile 61 B.C.

VIII 131
Drusus, br. of Emperor Tiberius,

commanded m Q-ermany, XI 55
Duris of Samos, author, VIII 143

Echecratides, X 180
Egnatius Oalvinus, X 134
Elpis, VIII 57 f .
Euanthes, VIH 81

Fabianus Pictor, philosopher of early

empire, IX 25
Fabricius, cos. 282 B.C., defeated

Lucamans, IX 118
Fenestella, historian temp. Tiberius.

VIII 19, 195, IX 123
Fulvius Lippinus, VIII 211, IX 173

Gaetuli, H. African tribe, VIII 20, 54

Gams Caesar, XI 143

Q-alerius, X 50

Garamantus, JST. African king, VIII

142 '

Gelo, tyrant of Syracuse 491-478 B.C.,

VHI144

614

Germanicus Caesar, f. of emperor

Gaius, VIII 4, 145, 185, XI 187
Glauce, X 51

Hannibal, VIII 18, 222, XI 187

Hanno, VIII 55

Hegesidemus, unknown writer, IX 27

Hercules, XI 52

Hermias, IX 27

Herodotus, VIII 7

Herophilus,physician under Ptolemy I,

XI 219

Hesiod, X 171

Hiero, succeeded Gelo, d. 538 B.C.,
# VHI143
Hirrius, IX 171
Horatms-, X 145
Hortensius, orator, cos. 69 B.C.. VIII

211, IX 170, 172, X 45
Hyrcani, VIII 66

Isis, X 94

Jason of Lycia, VIII 143

Juba, k. of Mauretama 46-19 B.C.,

voluminous author, VIII 7, 14, 35,

48, 107
Julia, X 154

Labeo, author, to. c. 60 B.C., X 37
Labeones, XI 159
Labenus, 105-43 B.C., IX 61
Lacydes, president of Academy, d.

215 B 0., X 51
Laenius Strabo, X 141
Lentulus Spmther, curule aedile 63

B.C., IX 137

Liber, Vtll 4, 57, XI 52
Licinius Murena, praetor 113 B.C., IX

170

Lollia Paulina, IX 117
Lollius, M , gr. of above, 6os. 21 .B.C.,

IX 118

Lucania, VIII 16
Lucilms, d. 103 B.C., VIII 195
Lucullus, 6. 110 B.C., conqueror of

Mithridates, VIII 211, IX 170
Luscini, XI 150
Lysunaohus of Sicyon, sculptor, VHI

Macrinus Viscus, XI 223
Mamlius, X 4 1 .
Marms, 0., X 16, XI 189

INDEX

Megasthenes, under Soleucus Nicator

k. of Syria, explored India c. 300

B.C., VIII 36
Memnon, legendary prince of Ethiopia,

X 74

Menander, VIII 13
Mentor, VIII 56
Messala Oorvinus, orator, b. 62 B.C., X

52

Messahna, X 171
Messalinus Gotta, X 52
Mestus VIII 45

Mesurius, lawyer temp. Tiberius, X 20
Metellus L., pontifex, cos. 251 and

247 B.C. VIII 16, XI 174
Metrodorus of Scepsis, VIII 36
Mucianus Licimus, cos. under Nero

and Vespasian, VIII 6, 201, 215

IX 33, 68, 79, 86, 94, 182, XI 167
Mucius, 160-90 B.C., X 20

Neptunus, IX 55

Nereides, IX 9

Nero, VIII 21 f., 144, 196, X 154, XI

143, 238
Nicomedes, k. of Bithynia 278-250

B.C., VIII 144
Nigidius Figulus, praetor 58 BO.,

VIII 205, 223, IX 185, X 37, 39
Nile, VIII 77, 84 ff ., 149

Ocellae, XI 150
Oppius, XI 252
Ops, XI 147
Optatus, IX 62

Pamphile, XI 150

Periander, tyrant of Corinth 625-585

B.C., IX 80
Pharsalus, in Thessaly, defeat of

Pompey by Caesar 48 B.C., VIII

55
Philmus, Pythagorean philosopher,

VIII 59

Phihppus, IX 170
Philistus of Syracuse, historian, VIII

144

Phoemonoe, X 7, 21
Phylarchus, historian, X 207
Piso, VIII 17, XI 187
Plancus, L., IX 121, XI 254
Plateas, XI 76
Plato, XI 55
Plautus, XI 254

Poeni, VIII 16

Pollio Vedius, IX 77, 167

Polybius of Megalopolis, historian, b.

204 B.C., VIII 31, 47
Pompeius Magnus, VIII 4, 20 f., 58,

63, 70, 84, IX 170
Pompeius Sextus, son of above, 6.

75 B.C., IX 55
Poppaea, XI 238
Procilms, historian temp. Cicero, VIII

Psylli, N. African tribe, XI 89
Ptolemy Philadelphus, 285-247 B.C.,

2nd k. of Egypt, VIII 14, IX 6, X

51
Publilius Syrus, mimographer temp.

Cicero, VIII 209
Pulcer. Claudius, aedile 99 B.C., VIII

19
Pyrrhus, k, of Epirus, finally defeated

by Borne 272 B.C., VIII 16, XI

186, 197

Eatumenna, VIII 161

Eegulus, Atihus, cos. 256 B.O. in first

Punic War, VIII 37
Rullus, Servihus, agrarian law 63 B.C.,

VIII 210

Saneus, VIII 194

Scaurus, M. Aemihus, cos. 115 B.C.,

VIII 96, 293, IX 11, XI 242
Scipio, VIII 47
Sedigitae, Sedigitus, XI 244
Seianus, Aelms, d. A.D. 31, VIII 196
Seius, X 52

Seneca, M. Aurelius, IX 167
Sergius Grata, IX 168
Sertorius, Q., Marian, held Spain

against Sulla and Pompey 83-72

B.O., VIII 117
Sernlius Bullus, tr. pi., agrarian law

63 B.C., VIII 210
Servius Tullius, k. of Home 578-538

B.C., VIII 194, 197
Sextos Pompeius, IX 55
Silones, XI 158
Sinn, XI 158
Statius Sebosus, author at end of

republic, IX 46
Stesichorus, Greek lyric poet, b. 632

B.C., X 82
Strabones, XI 150*
Studiosus, XI 245
Sudines, unknown author, IX 115

615

INDEX

Tanaqull, VIII 194

Theophrastus, successor of Aristotle

as head of Peripatetic school, VIII

104, 111, 128, 173, 222, IX 28,

175, X 79, XI 281
Thoas, VIII 61. X 207
Tiberius, IX 9, XI 143
Timarchus, XI 167
Titius Sabmus, d. A.D. 28, VIII 144
Torquatus, VIII 195
Trebius Niger, IX 80, 89
Triton, IX 9
Trogodyti, VIII 25, 32, IX 38, XI

125
Trogus, Pompems, historian temp.

Augustus, XI 229, 274
Tullus Hostilms, k, of Eome 673-642

B.C., IX ] 36
Turranius Gracilis, Spanish writer,

IX 111

TJmbricius, X 19

Varro, M. Terentms, author, 116-27
B.C., VIII 104, 167, 195, IX 174
X 116 '

Varus, XI 254

Vatia, XI 254

Vatinius, XI 254

Vedius Pollio, IX 77

Venus Victnx, VIII 20

Vergilius, VIII 162

Vernus, Augustan writer, VIII 17

Vitellius, pleader, A.D. 19, XI 187

Volcacius Sedigitus, didactic poet, 2nd
c. B.C., XI 244

Volusius Saturmnus, cos. A.D. 3 XI
223

Vulcatius, VIII 144

Zocles, XI 147

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On Indivisible Lines, On Position and Names of Winds.
ARISTOTLE : NICOMACHEAN ETHICS. H. Rackham.

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ARISTOTLE : OECONOMICA AND MAGNA MORALIA.

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ARISTOTLE: RHETORICA AD ALEXANDRUM

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4

ARRIAN : HISTORY OF ALEXANDER AND INDICA.

Rev. E. Iliffe Robson. 2 Vols.
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7 Vols.
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CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. Rev. G. W. Butter-
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AND II. Translated by J. H. Vince.
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GREEK MATHEMATICAL WORKS. Ivor Thomas.

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5

HERODES. Cf. THEOPHRASTUS : CHARACTERS.
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HEsloD^AN^THE HOMERIC HYMNS. H. G. Evelyn

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IN PREPARATION

Greek Authors

ALCIPHRON. A. R. Benner.

ARISTOTLE : DE MUNDO. W. K. C. Guthrie.

ARISTOTLE: HISTORY AND GENERATION OF

ANIMALS. A. L. Peck.

ARISTOTLE : METEOROLOGICA. H. P. Lee.
MANETHO. W. G. Waddell.
PAPYRI : LITERARY PAPYRI, Selected and Translated

by C. H. Roberts and D. L. Page.
PTOLEMY : TETRABIBLUS. F. E. Robbins.

Latin Authors

ST. AUGUSTINE: CITY OF GOD. J.H.Baxter.

[CICERO] : AD HERENNIUM. H. Caplan.

CICERO: DE ORATORE. Charles Stuttaford,

E. W. Sutton and H. Rackham.
CICERO: PRO SESTIO, IN VATINIUM, PRO

CAELIO, DE PROVINCIIS CONSULARIBUS, PRO

BALBO. J. H. Freese.

COLUMELLA : DE RE RUSTICA. H. B. Ash.
PRUDENTIUS. J. H. Thomson.
QUINTUS CURTIUS: HISTORY OF ALEXANDER.

J. C. Rolfe.

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